Uni-ball Woodnote .38 mm Orange Review

(This is a guest review by Brian Draghi. You can follow Brian on Twitter @sketchscape)

This is one of those types of pens that holds your interest the first time you see it. The main element is the visually appealing wood main body and the reliable Signo gel ink. While the Uni-ball Woodnote catches your attention, it falls flat in comfort, function and price compared to the other options in the Uni-ball brand.

Anyone that uses regular wood pencils will feel right at home when using the Uni-ball Woodnote. It has almost the same type of texture but more of a smoother feel than a regular pencil. Most of the body is made up of recycled cedar wood except for both end pieces and the cap, which are made up of plastic. This is a small pen without the cap posted measuring about 4.5 inches long. The bulk of the pen is taken up by the plastic cap.

I'm rather torn here because I really wanted to like this pen but there are several issues that make it irritating to use. The wood body has a quality feel to it but it's also too smooth and slick. It's hard for me to find an ideal comfortable grip especially since my thumb and index finger rest right between the wood and plastic. I wished the wood texture came completely up the whole barrel right before it tapers into the pen point. Right now my fingers rest right on the part line between the materials which doesn't feel comfortable at all.

The writing quality is less than ideal which is rather surprising considering there is a Signo gel ink refill inside. Maybe it's just this particular orange refill that came with the pen but it feels difficult to write with. I decided to switch out one of my blue black refills in my Uni-ball Style Fit for the orange refill in the Woodnote. There was a slight improvement using the blue black refill in the Woodnote as well as the orange in the Style Fit but even so, the Style Fit just felt better to write with. Writing with the Woodnote on copy paper tended to drag across more slowly then smoother paper. It also felt rather scratchy against the paper which made it feel like more effort was required to write with.

This really isn't the ideal pen to use for carrying in your pocket due to it's durability issues with the wood body. The wood frame seems to easily be nicked especially if you have any keys or other items in your pocket. The other problem I had revolved around the overly flexible and flimsy clip. The clip is so flexible that I worry how effective it would be using it to attach anything to. The quality of the clip reminds me of the cheap Bic pen cap clips that will take a new shape if you happen to bend it. I also have a problem with how the cap rotates when posted on the end. The cap is definitely secure but it feels like your going to lose it when you rotate it. Maybe I'm just used to caps that stay firmly on place to really adjust to this pen.

Overall

The Woodnote just doesn’t cut it for me due to its scratchy writing quality and uncomfortable recycled wood body. This seems like more of a novelty pen to me rather than something practical that I can use everyday. Take away the wood and you would have just a standard pen that wouldn’t be good enough to put in my regular rotation. At nearly 5 dollars on JetPens, this is a more expensive option considering their are cheaper and better options in the Uni-ball family. The Uni-ball Style Fit with the exact refill is not even half the price and feels better to use than the Woodnote.

Rating

2 out of 5 pens

Pros

- Solid design

- Signo gel ink

- Eco-friendly recyclable American cedar wood

- Can interchange refill with Uni-ball Style Fit

Cons

- Lack of comfortable grip

- Scratchy writing quality

- Easily wear wood body

- Clip is too flimsy

Uni-ball Propus Erasable Highlighter Pen Review

(This is a guest post by Brian Draghi. You can follow Brian on Twitter @Sketchscape)

Thanks to Brad and Jetpens for sending over this sample highlighter to review. I have used several different highlighters over the years but I have never used an erasable highlighter before. I was quite interested to see how well this type of highlighter erased its own highlighted areas. Unfortunately the Uni-ball Propus Blue Highlighter was a complete disappointment on several levels with an erasing ability that was less than ideal.

I really wanted to like this highlighter from Uni-ball but there are several brands of highlighters that aren't even erasable that are better than this particular one. The first strike against this highlighter is the horrible erasing ability where the highlighted area is still present after erasing. Using copy paper shows the best results but leaves a faded streak of highlight after erased. Marks on card stock can't even be erased without much difference to the original highlighted area. Trying to erase an area immediately after highlighting just smears the ink across the page. Anything written down is slightly faded in the process; highlighted ballpoint pens and pencils react the worst to erasing. Erasing any type of highlighted text in books is quite pointless since it nearly rubs out and destroys the words in the process.

The second issue is the very muted color that is produced from this highlighter. I prefer to have my highlighted areas to be bold and bright so that it stands out, instead a very dull line is produced. The final issue revolves around the rather slow drying time for any highlighted area. When it does dry, it seems to have a consistency of watercolor where you can see gaps of white space left over. It'€™s even worse when you press down the highlighter too hard because it can tend to really saturate the space. Forget using this highlighter on any type of glossy surface such as magazines and glossy card stock since there will just be a nice pool of ink on the surface that will never seem to dry.

Overall

There'€™s not many positive things I can say about the Propus. It has a nice compact style with a decent clip but there are too many issues with this highlighter to use on a regular basis. I could even set the lack of erasing aside if the highlighted color wasn'€™t so muted and distorted in consistency. I can'€™t say anything about the other colors available in this line but the blue is definitely the one that needs to be avoided. There are better highlighters available that outperform the Uni-ball Propus highlighter and choosing another erasable alternative would be ideal. For the non-erasable highlighter choice I would recommend the Sharpie Accent Liquid Highlighter.

Rating

1 out for 5

Cons

 - Horrible erasing ability

- Doesn't work on glossy or card stock materials

- Erases highlighted book text

- Very muted color

- Dries very slowly

Pros

-Compact style

-Works decent on pigment ink pens

Uni-Ball Jetstream Basic Series 0.7mm Black Review

(This post is by Lou Rinaldi, who can also be found at cfug.org and on Twitter @LouRinaldi.)

People on the Internet love them some Jetstreams. That much is obvious even to the casual observer. I quickly fell in love myself, but alas, it ended up being one of those love affairs that burns brightly, briefly, and then flames out. The biggest problem for me is that, as smooth of a writer as it is, at the end of the day it's still a ballpoint. The clumps of ink are still there. It's definitely the best ballpoint I've ever used, though.

JetPens provided me with a sample of the Japanese Uni-Ball Jetstream Basic Series 0.7mm version of this pen, but for all intents and purposes, it's identical to the American Jetstream Sport in 0.7mm (save for a single “racing stripe” near the top that’s missing on the Japanese version). I should point out that this is the older body style with three ovals on the clip, and the clip is the same color as the rest of the body. The newer body style tapers to a “pinch” just above the grip, and the grip itself appears to be slimmer and curvier. I've never used it so I can't say which is better, but if you prefer the older style it seems you had better buy in bulk immediately.

The pen feels good in the hand and is an unquestionably smooth writer, a fact on which Uni-Ball's marketing department has capitalized in a YouTube video featuring one “Doctor Uni-Ball.” At first, I loved it so much that I purchased a box of a dozen just so I could share them with friends and coworkers. Perhaps I was caught up in the effusive praise that every Internet review seems to lavish upon this pen. And in fairness, as I'€™ve already stated, I would still choose this pen over any other ballpoint within reach, be they hybrid or conventional (although I have yet to try the Pilot Acroball). The problem is that the ink still tends to clump up occasionally, though not nearly as frequently as with conventional ballpoints. I also don’t see the consistent lines that I typically get from gel pens. There's plenty of evidence in my writing sample for this review.

Maybe it's because I was also trying out a variety of other pen and ink types for the first time while I was getting acquainted with the Jetstream Sport. But after a brief period of infatuation, it seems to have gotten lost in the crowd. I can'€™t see grabbing this pen when it'€™s on the desk next to a Pentel EnerGel, for example. The latter would win almost every time. Their price points are very similar, especially now with the EnerGel-X line. The Jetstream is starting to look a bit less attractive lately, but I'€™ll always look back fondly on our time together.