I inherited a package of Staedtler liquid point 7 pens from my co-worker. She wanted something with a very fine tip and thought these pens "Precision Engineered in Germany" would be just the ticket. However, when she tried writing in the journal she keeps notes in at work, the ink smeared all over the place. We decided that the paper in her notebook was too slick for this pen and so she gave them to me since I make notes on Post-Its and plain old legal pads. I really like the intensity of the ink's color and its generous flow. However, I had trouble with smearing too. I figured it was because I was writing quickly and so I reserved this pen for when I could take my time and needed something to look nice (signing documents and addressing letters). I also made sure not to use it on paper that was the least bit slick. I've still continued to have problems with smearing even when using 100% cotton stationery. Apparently, I'm not the only one who has had this problem. The King of Pointland's blog entry on what's up with this pen - http://cradle.brokenglass.com/blog/archives/000448.html. I love the richness of this ink, so I guess I'll still reserve it for signing my name. The ink dries too slowly for this to be a very practical pen, unless you have the kind of time to wait five minutes between writing each line. I also wouldn't call the Staedtler liquid point 7 a "fine" tip. It puts down just as much ink as some broader-tipped pens I've used.

This is one of my favorite pens because to the consistent flow of richly-colored ink. It's inexpensive and comes in a variety of colors. Being able to see the ink supply seems more live a novelty than a necessity. When it's running low, you'll know it because the normally generous ink flow becomes light. I like that you can buy refills for the cartridges and don't have to toss the entire pen. Although, I've only been able to find refills in black, blue/black (looks navy), blue, and red. The purple, dark pink, green, and orange pens seem to only be available in a multi-pack, so if you're hooked on the purple ones I think you must be out of luck because you can't buy a whole box of purple ones. It puts down a generous amount of ink so you do get some bleed thru on thin paper like lined notebook paper. The ink is water-resistant and dries quickly. I discovered this after spilling water on some papers on my desk. I blotted them dry with a napkin and they looked as good as new. I couldn't believe that the ink didn't run. Wow. According to Uni-Ball it also won't leak on airplanes. The only bad thing about this pen is that it has a tendency to come unscrewed while you're writing. This could be easily solved by putting a drop of glue on the cartridge and screwing it shut, but then you have to give up on ever refilling it. I still think the attributes of this pen outweigh this problem. After I started using them, the other people in my office tried them and switched to these pens too.

This is a great pen. They are cheap, widely available, come in a great variety of colors, and the ink flow is excellent. They've been around for several years now. I think Uni-Ball really improved on this design when they created the Uni-Ball Vision Elite. This older version is a little more prone to skipping and isn't refillable, but it doesn't have the problem of accidentally coming un-screwed like the Vision Elite does. For that reason, I still turn to this pen when I need to write very quickly and don't have time to deal with the Vision Elite's quirks.