[mechgamer123]

 

 
ps. I don't believe you're a "poor college student" from the looks of your audio gear. 

 
I guess now we know what made him poor!

Hehehe, pretty much.
 

  @mechgamer Why use a fountain pen instead of a ballpoint? It's much more convenient to carry through college and cost effective too not to mention the risk of work being wiped out by a water spill. I know the arguments of a fountain pen vs a ballpoint. In fact, I used to write with the fountain pen exclusively but today ballpoints has come a long way. They don't require a lot of pressure and are very reliable (Eg/ Papermate Inkjoy).
 
If you wish to get a fountain pen, I would suggest saving up and buy the pen of your dreams otherwise you will keep on buying fountain pens until you reach the holy grail - it's a painfully expensive process. 
 
ps. I don't believe you're a "poor college student" from the looks of your audio gear. 

Very good point, I probably should just go with a ballpoint. A lot of the ones I've had over the years require more force to write though, which is annoying. I'll probably just end up doing that and using fountain pens to write other stuff.
I haven't even started looking in the "dream" category though. I don't even want to be tempted by anything more expensive... 

 
 
I didn't buy any of that gear while I was in college, or at least that's my excuse. 

 

[proton007]

Hehehe, pretty much.

Very good point, I probably should just go with a ballpoint. A lot of the ones I've had over the years require more force to write though, which is annoying. I'll probably just end up doing that and using fountain pens to write other stuff.
I haven't even started looking in the "dream" category though. I don't even want to be tempted by anything more expensive... :confused_face:  

I didn't buy any of that gear while I was in college, or at least that's my excuse. 

You've never used Pilot g-tec ? Or the hitec-v5? I found them pretty good. The g-tec is one of the finest points you can find in rollerballs.
They don't mark the paper like a ball point does, and have liquid ink.
I used them a lot in high school.

 

[Tangster]

While I remember, here's another comparison between the Lamy M, EF and a Preppy 0.3, Also, some Diamine inks.

 

 

  I think with the converter its more expensive than the Metropolitan.

I'd probably cheapskate out and use a syringe to refill the cartridge.

 

[Tsujigiri]

FWIW, I've used fountain pens almost exclusively since the beginning of high school and have found that it's turned out well for me. After getting used to the feel of a fountain pen, I no longer think that ballpoints are really convenient. They make good backups, though. Most rollerballs aren't as good because they dry up more easily, but if you get a rollerball that can accept Pilot G2 refills those are a little better on that front.

 

[DanW]

If you're looking for a good smooth ballpoint, check out the Uni Jetstream pens at JetPens.com. They are my daily pens (including one of their multipens).

 

[Silent One]

I like JetPens, their selection and C/S! 

 

 

[mechgamer123]

I actually went to the Kinokuniya bookstore in Seattle yesterday and looked at their pens. After seeing only $50+ fountain pens, I looked at the roller balls and settled on the jetstream. It definitely seems like a nice rollerball pen, and the .5mm tip is really small, like I was looking for. 

 

[proton007]

  I actually went to the Kinokuniya bookstore in Seattle yesterday and looked at their pens. After seeing only $50+ fountain pens, I looked at the roller balls and settled on the jetstream. It definitely seems like a nice rollerball pen, and the .5mm tip is really small, like I was looking for. 

 
Kinokuniya is overpriced. I only go there because they stock a lot of items that cannot be found in smaller stores.
 
However, you didn't spot the Pilot Varsity or Platinum Preppy? They're pretty cheap.

 

[mechgamer123]

 

  I actually went to the Kinokuniya bookstore in Seattle yesterday and looked at their pens. After seeing only $50+ fountain pens, I looked at the roller balls and settled on the jetstream. It definitely seems like a nice rollerball pen, and the .5mm tip is really small, like I was looking for. 

 
Kinokuniya is overpriced. I only go there because they stock a lot of items that cannot be found in smaller stores.
 
However, you didn't spot the Pilot Varsity or Platinum Preppy? They're pretty cheap.

Yeah, but this pen cost me $3.25 plus tax, or $.75 more than Jetpens. If I would've ordered it online though, it would've cost me $9.50 by the time I added on shipping.
 
They didn't have a Pilot Varsity, and I believe I've been using the same nib as the .3mm Platinum Preppy in my Noodler's ink dropper pen.

 

[proton007]

  Yeah, but this pen cost me $3.25 plus tax, or $.75 more than Jetpens. If I would've ordered it online though, it would've cost me $9.50 by the time I added on shipping.
 
They didn't have a Pilot Varsity, and I believe I've been using the same nib as the .3mm Platinum Preppy in my Noodler's ink dropper pen.

 
The Jetstream isn't worthy of ordering online, its a pretty cheap pen to justify the shipping etc.
 
The Kinokuniya here is rather pricy. I've ordered books from Amazon that cost less even with shipping included.  Lamy is the only option in the mid range, beyond that is the Pilot Prera.

 

[mechgamer123]

 

  Yeah, but this pen cost me $3.25 plus tax, or $.75 more than Jetpens. If I would've ordered it online though, it would've cost me $9.50 by the time I added on shipping.
 
They didn't have a Pilot Varsity, and I believe I've been using the same nib as the .3mm Platinum Preppy in my Noodler's ink dropper pen.

 
The Jetstream isn't worthy of ordering online, its a pretty cheap pen to justify the shipping etc.
 
The Kinokuniya here is rather pricy. I've ordered books from Amazon that cost less even with shipping included.  Lamy is the only option in the mid range, beyond that is the Pilot Prera.

I can't disagree with you that Kinokuniya is overpriced, but it's a place where I can go and try out stuff before I buy it and all that jazz.
For American books, sure. But for some Japanese books I've looked at, Kinokuniya was actually cheaper than amazon.co.jp, assuming you were only ordering one...
 
Back to the topic of pens, I think I'll hold off on any more purchases for now and see what Black Friday brings.

 

[Tsujigiri]

If there's a Book Off in your area, you can check that out for a cheaper option than Kinokuniya. They deal with used books and CD's and other Japanese media, although a lot of the stuff there seems new. As for Japanese pens and things, it seems like the Japanese don't really want anyone else to have their best stuff. Distribution outside of Japan for their domestic products is pretty much always more expensive than just walking into a store and buying it at full retail in Japan. I'm not sure why they do this, but they seem to have this mentality about a lot of things. The most accurate wristwatch in world, for instance, is a domestic product that they refuse to sell to foreigners. They even make you register a Japanese address to send it in for service.

 

[mechgamer123]

  If there's a Book Off in your area, you can check that out for a cheaper option than Kinokuniya. They deal with used books and CD's and other Japanese media, although a lot of the stuff there seems new. As for Japanese pens and things, it seems like the Japanese don't really want anyone else to have their best stuff. Distribution outside of Japan for their domestic products is pretty much always more expensive than just walking into a store and buying it at full retail in Japan. I'm not sure why they do this, but they seem to have this mentality about a lot of things. The most accurate wristwatch in world, for instance, is a domestic product that they refuse to sell to foreigners. They even make you register a Japanese address to send it in for service.

Grr, why do you Californians get all the cool stuff? T.T
Looks like all the Book Offs I see are in Cali, NY, and Hawaii.
 
Wow, sounds kind of like the story behind Stax. Comparing the retail price in Japan -> USD to buying them outright from an American dealer, even after the price drops, there's still almost a 50% margin on some items...

 

[Silent One]

Thanks for the tip, Tsujigiri! Had never heard of 'Book Off' before, sounds like a very interesting place. Best of all, I tend to pass some three locations all the the time... will stop by this week and have a look!

 

[brim71]

Thought I'd share a picture or two of the latest pen purchase.  I was lucky enough to snag a Sheaffer PFM III in gray recently and it arrived yesterday.  Hard to get the color right in a picture, but this is as close as I could get:
 

 
Sheaffer only produced the PFM line from 1959 - 1968 (with only the III and V living past 1963), with the gray color being made only one of those years (allegedly), which makes it rare in the already fairly rare PFM world.  As boring as gray sounds, it's a stunning color actually.  They don't come up for sale very often, so I'm excited!
 
I've collected PFM's for a little over a year now and am only missing a IV.  Here are some of the highlights: