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4.5
These pens are exactly what you need when doing a LOT or a little writing. It's smooth from the first stroke until you run out of ink. No shaking, etc... The ink is always ready to roll. The color is crisp and not smudgy (if that's a thing). I buy them frequently and prefer them to other pens as well. Great for school, work, home and to use at parties. Love these. Favorite in this price range.So I tried these after trying the Sharpie pens and I like these alot.Unlike the Sharpie they don't skip or leak in my pocket or on my clothes.I was bitter from that experience so I bought these and a few other brands not expecting much. I waited a week before I reviewed and so far I'm still using the same pen with no issues.I work outdoors but go in and out of my freezer on my truck and the pen has written well in 98 degree summer in Michigan and also at 10 degrees in my freezer unit.These are cheaper than the Sharpie S-Gels as well.When writing fiction I go for the 7" x 10" Japanese import notebooks (Apica B5 ruled notebook, Tsubame B5 Ruled notebooks or the Kokuyo Mister notebook B5 or sometimes the more glossy Kokuyo Campus notebooks).Let's face it, for whatever reason, the nature of a notebooks writing surface matters. And the pen we choose might matter even more. But pen choices are as varied as there are tastes. Some like the extra fine ballpoint, some the fine ballpoint while others might fancy the Bold ballpoint pens. All depending on what you want -- thin or thick lined writing. Again, this goes in tandem with the nature of the writing surface which too varies from rough, hard, normal to near-glossy surfaces (like the Kokuyo notebooks).This is a pen review (for a BOLD ballpoint pen at that), so let me stay on point (pun not intended).To give the review a measured context, I'd need to stack different brand pens side by side to give anyone reading this a visual imagery of what a 1.6 mm pen looks like versus another 1.6 mm pen from the same brand but of a different model version. I also threw in a 1.4 mm ballpoint into the mix.They are: BIC Velocity 1.6 mm RT pen, BIC Atlantis 1.6 mm RT pen and a 1.4 mm Paper Mate Profile. For those not too familiar with what a BOLD 1.6 mm or a 1.4 mm means... it's the width or thickness of a the line drawn by the said pen. Same applies for 1.0 mm, 0.7 mm, 0.5 mm, 0.38 mm.The bigger the size, the wider the bore. Thus there is no way you can exclude the issue of ink blotting, bleeding, or even streaking (these do not streak). Though this is relative to the kind of paper you write on i.e. rough, smooth or gloss.I used 2 types of writing surfaces to demonstrate how the ink of the 3 brands appear (see pics). One is from a Japanese import paper MUJI Notebook (tan/beige color) the other is the bleached white of MEAD two ring business notebook.IMPRESSIONS:COLOR -- In terms of vivid BOLD blue color, I give it to the BIC brands.They are ahead of the Paper mate Profile. Not to say the PP is bad. No. It's been my go-to pen for story telling/writing up until now.FLOW -- In terms of the smoothness of writing ... it's pretty damn close. I would give Atlantis a very marginal edge over the other 2, with the Paper Mate Profile & BIC Velocity a near dead even draw. None of them skips or stutters or "scratchy feeling" when they're going.STAIN/BLOT: This is where, as I earlier mentioned lies the "curse" in the midst of the blessing. The larger the ballpoint, the more likely to blotch. Now the paper mate at 1.4 mm does not blotch. So, I give it to the PP brand on that one. But at a "huge" 1.6 mm ... something had to give (I'm sure if PP had a 1.6 mm model it would blotch too). Now, it's not as bad as it sounds. I only notice this for Atlantis and Velocity when the pen makes first contact with the paper. Once you get to scribbling along it's smooth sailing. SUGGESTION: To mitigate against this, just wipe tip with a paper towel before writing. But if this is something that'll bother you then I suggest you stick with the Paper Mate Profile.Or alternatively you go down a notch to Medium 1.0 mm or Fine 0.7 mm ballpoint pens.The Atlantis -- from my own impressions is the most blotch prone when compared to Velocity. Paper Mate Profile is the least prone and thus takes this one for the win.These are a definite recommend. But it will come down to individual needs when choosing.Like I mentioned, I included pics (please overlook the bad handwriting).Hope you found this review helpful.UPDATE: 1/22/18The blotch is enough to cause some frustrations when using the 1.6mm pens on very smooth or glossy paper. So, I'll take Paper Mate Profile over the other 2.UPDATE: 04/14/17:Just bought my 3rd packet of Paper Mate Profile 1.4mm RT pen. Thta tells you how good this pen is. 'Nuff said.I've purchased the Paper Mate Profile pens many times. They're comfortable to write with, dependable, and a great price.Love these pens, but they were slow to arrive.I don't understand why so many people prefer fine ballpoint pens; I like a BOLD point, even bolder than "medium" width, which is usually 1 mm. These pens are available in the hard-to-find 1.4 mm size, which I love. They write cleanly and clearly, and they are comfortable to hold. Recommended for anyone who prefers a bolder point like I do!And I've tried lots of pens but only a few ever meet my demands. This one does! I hate the super fine post pens because I don't feel like I'm in control. This pen with its medium point is exactly what I need in my life!These are my favorite pens. I use them as a notary and to keep my notes “original” but 1) one or two in each box is actually black and not blue as advertised/expected and 2) each pen doesn’t last very long. I needed to hand write notes for an investigation and in a six hour day, I went through three pens taking notes. Still, my favorite pen ever
