Zebra Arbez Piirto Ballpoint Pen 0.7 mm Review

It is great to see manufacturers branch out from the norm and come up with fresh pen and pencil designs. Zebra takes it a step further by holding an annual contest for young designers around the world, and the Zebra Arbez Piirto was the winner of the 2011 event.

The winning design is based around the slim and simple form of an ice pick, which makes sense when you realize the designer is from Finland. It is quite stunning, especially when you consider that part of the design process was to make it as inexpensively as possible. Mission accomplished on all fronts.

Many pens use a rotation or twist mechanism to extend and retract the pen but where the Piirto differs is that the mechanism is in the grip area as opposed to the upper barrel area. It functions quite well and does not get in the way of the writing experience at all.

What does get in the way of the writing experience is the ballpoint ink cartridge. This is your basic cheap ballpoint refill, so set your expectations accordingly. A Zebra Surari refill would make this pen a knockout but would also raise the price, which goes against the reason the Piirto was created.

The Piirto ballpoint is available with black and red ink cartridges as well as a black barrel design. There is even a mechanical pencil version that is designed similarly. While it may not perform like a world beater, the design and price made it an easy choice to add to my collection.

Zebra R-301 Stainless Steel Refillable Roller Ball Review

I take reader requests from time to time, and the Zebra R-301 Stainless Steel Refillable Roller Ball was one such request. I first learned of this pen last year from Brian at Office Supply Geek and knowing the style of writing instrument I prefer I wasn’t too eager to give it a shot. Wide tipped liquid ink pens just aren’t my thing, but it obviously doesn’t take much to twist my arm.

The first thing I noticed about this pen is that the design is based directly off the Zebra H-301 Highlighter. That is a good thing because the barrel design is great. I love the look of the stainless steel contrasted against the black plastic. The only issue I find is that the cap does not post tightly. It is loose and spins a little but it won’t go as far as falling off.

From an ink perspective it is HEAVY. The tip size is 0.7 mm but it writes wider because of the flow. In fact, I had to write very fast to stay ahead of the bleed. It is dark and consistent though, so any of you who like to write with liquid ink pens may enjoy it. That it is refillable is an added bonus.

I picked up my R-301 at Staples so you should be able to find these pretty easily at your local office supply retailer. If you own one please let me know what you think in the comments section.

Zebra SL-F1 Mini Ballpoint Pen Review

Zebra makes the best mini pens. Anyone care to disagree?

I’m not trying to get anyone riled up or make some off the wall point. I’m being serious - who does it better? I think the Fisher Space Pen will get a lot of votes because of the pressurized ballpoint refill, but in the bang for the buck category I think Zebra gets it right.

The SL-F1 Mini Ballpoint Pen is Zebra’s latest addition to an ever growing line of portable pens. This telescoping model is a compact 3.3 inches when closed and expands to 4 inches when extended into the writing position. The metal barrel gives it a nice weight and feel. The 0.7 mm ballpoint ink is smooth and clean. Positive marks all around for the SL-F1 in my book.

At $5.00 it is an excellent value, but that isn’t the best part. The SL-F1 takes a standard D1 refill, which means gel ink refills are an option. 0.4 mm Mandarin Orange here I come!

For another look at the Zebra SL-F1 see the review at No Pen Intended.