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Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

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Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#171

Post by CharlesW »

munificent wrote: post #170
0x_rs wrote: post #121

There's no mention of this in the article, so be aware there's multiple posts online about QC issues. Rotring quality has been going down over the years, or their name outgrew the actual quality of the product. Current generation of 600s especially suffer from: cracking of the body (0, 1); but most importantly for pens, the joint part that screws into the bottom and upper part of the pen is extremely susceptible to w…

> Rotring quality has been going down over the years, or their name outgrew the actual quality of the product. This story is so common that I wish there was an established economic term for it. Something like "reputational arbitrage" or perhaps "sentiment stickiness". The basic idea is that a business can change its quality much faster than its reputation changes. If the business rapidly cuts costs and quality, their…

> This story is so common that I wish there was an established economic term for it.

I thought we'd collectively decided on "enshittification"? Or is that different?

Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#172

Post by munificent »

amelius wrote: post #147
criddell wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like Don Norman says, attractive things work better. And there's always a good reason to go evangelical/Apple about it. A day you spend using tools that you love using is a better day than one where you are using tools that bring you no joy. As far as evangelizing goes, I'm much more interested in the things you love than the things you hate.

Be careful to not love your tools more than the things you create with them. It's all in your mind. Simple tools are king. They allow you to be creative anytime, not just when holding the "right" tool.

Everyone has a complex relationship with their muse.

Fetishizing gear such that you use lack of the right gear as an excuse to not create, or spend all your time acquiring gear and not using it is definitely toxic.

But, also fetishizing minimalism such that you end up with a process that is all self-flagelating toil and misery is also toxic.

Everyone's gotta navigate the boundary between those themselves.

Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#173

Post by sevensor »

_Wintermute wrote: post #74
christophilus wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or if you occasionally spill coffee or any other liquid ever. I sometimes hand-write recipes. Fountain pens + sloppy kitchen meal prep are a bad combo.

You can get some very permanent water-proof inks. Platinum Carbon black is my favourite.

Platinum Carbon Black is a wonderful ink. It seems to work very well in cheap fountain pens with flow issues. It’s highly resistant to coffee spills and looks ok on mediocre paper. Only drawback is cleaning it up; it cleans up like used motor oil.

Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#174

Post by CharlesW »

_verandaguy wrote: post #161
kstrauser wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mentioned in another post, but you need to try the Uni version of that Bic. I got a 3 color. I feels only slightly larger than a regular pen, and writes vastly better than the Bic. They’re more expensive in absolutely terms but still around $6.

Do you have a shopping link or SKU? I'm having some trouble finding it, but it sounds compelling!

They may be thinking of the "uni Jetstream 4&1 Metal Edition" with black/red/bluegreen Jetstream ballpoints, plus a 0.5mm Mechanical Pencil: https://www.amazon.com/uni-Jetstream-Ballpoint-Mechanical-MS... or https://www.jetpens.com/Uni-Jetstream-4-1-Metal-4-Color-0.5-...

Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#175

Post by sevensor »

bayindirh wrote: post #88
ethersteeds wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since you're kindly offering recommendations, what do you use for longevity in engineering notebooks?

If you want a low maintenance option, your best choice will be fade-proof pigment inked systems. From top of my head: - UniBall Eye / Vision Elite's Red, Blue, Black and Green (look for fade-proof / water-poof note, or SuperINK) - Sakura / Faber Castell / Rotring pigment inked, felt tip markers (Look for Archival Ink / Fade Resistant) If you prefer fountain pens: - Pelikan 4001 blue black (which is not sold in the US…

> Do NOT use Moleskine notebooks with fountain pens. They are not designed for fountain pens

Or for hard use in general. Well over priced for the quality of the paper and bindings.

Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#176

Post by kstrauser »

CharlesW wrote: post #174
_verandaguy wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have a shopping link or SKU? I'm having some trouble finding it, but it sounds compelling!

They may be thinking of the "uni Jetstream 4&1 Metal Edition" with black/red/bluegreen Jetstream ballpoints, plus a 0.5mm Mechanical Pencil: https://www.amazon.com/uni-Jetstream-Ballpoint-Mechanical-MS... or https://www.jetpens.com/Uni-Jetstream-4-1-Metal-4-Color-0.5-...

Close. I got this one: https://www.jetpens.com/Uni-Jetstream-3-Color-Ballpoint-Mult...

Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#177

Post by throwanem »

bicx wrote: post #136
cosiiine wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I too have gone with fountain pens as my every day pen. There's zero waste with a bottle of ink and a cartridge. I find that the variety of inks to be superior too.

True! I specifically use Noodler's Bernanke Black ink because it's fast-drying. I'm left-handed, and I can easily smear ink as I write if it doesn't dry quickly. Left-to-right writing definitely favors right-handed people.

Oh, good grief, in that case you might want to start with a Pilot medium (roughly equivalent to a German no. 5 'fine') and work down from there. Without wishing to invite contumely on the sometimes extremely fractious topic that can be Noodler's inks, I will say my experience is that all the feed and nib throughput you can possibly give them will never really be too much, especially in Japanese pens.

Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#178

Post by averynicepen »

_verandaguy wrote: post #114
asymmetric wrote: post #113

Along these lines, does anyone have recommendations for a nice (as in: overpriced and pretty, just like with OP) setup for drawing/sketching diagrams, as a programmer might need to to do map out a problem? I'm thinking ~pencils~ (edit: felt-tip pens) in various colors, and good paper.

I can't speak for variously-coloured pencils, but I've had a lot of success with a grid-ruled moleskine (I usually went for hardcover, but after accidentally ordering a soft cover, I'm warming up to it) and a Rotring 0.5mm mechanical pencil with Pentel 2H leads. For colours, I tend to use the Bic 4-in-one coloured pen (the one with the blue bottom and white top), though I don't bring that out often.

Why do you use 2H leads? I can't imagine writing in something so light, even HB lead is too light for me.

Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#179

Post by bayindirh »

sevensor wrote: post #175
bayindirh wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want a low maintenance option, your best choice will be fade-proof pigment inked systems. From top of my head: - UniBall Eye / Vision Elite's Red, Blue, Black and Green (look for fade-proof / water-poof note, or SuperINK) - Sakura / Faber Castell / Rotring pigment inked, felt tip markers (Look for Archival Ink / Fade Resistant) If you prefer fountain pens: - Pelikan 4001 blue black (which is not sold in the US…

> Do NOT use Moleskine notebooks with fountain pens. They are not designed for fountain pens Or for hard use in general. Well over priced for the quality of the paper and bindings.

What bothers me is, their notebooks were fine when they first came to market. I still have their old, filled notebooks with great bindings and paper, with spotless ink retention, incl. fountain pens.

They gradually reduced their quality, and created a “higher, more expensive tier” to offer their previous quality.

Leuchtturm 1917 is a world apart when compared to today’s Moleskine.

Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#180

Post by averynicepen »

asymmetric wrote: post #113

Along these lines, does anyone have recommendations for a nice (as in: overpriced and pretty, just like with OP) setup for drawing/sketching diagrams, as a programmer might need to to do map out a problem? I'm thinking ~pencils~ (edit: felt-tip pens) in various colors, and good paper.

I second the Uni Jetstream 4&1 Metal. It is my daily driver for highlighting (color) and annotations (pencil), and the Jetstream inks are very smooth.

For loose leaf paper that takes ink and markers well, use "color copy digital" paper.

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