Sharpie's prodigious marketing team had me thinking that this would write like the best sort of pencil, erase well, and become indelible in a day or two. It sounded like the perfect thing for doing crossword puzzles; even my favorite brand of number 2 pencil tends to be hard to see on newsprint, and while ink is fine it isn't when you've made a mistake. With this Sharpie pencil, when you start to write you get one of those annoying sticky dots on your page that crummy ballpoints will also give you. In addition, the flow is uneven, so writing is annoying rather than pleasurable. A great idea in need of some serious tweaking. Sharpie Liquid Mechanical Pencil, 1 Mechanical Pencil (1770243)
I was very excited to buy and receive this. The prospect sounded amazing, especially that it went "down smooth like a pen."
How wrong they were.
The flow is terribly uneven and splotchy. It feels like a chore to write with this, despite its touted 'advanced' features.
The idea is a solid one, but this isn't the right execution.
Don't waste your money on it. I regret buying several because, hell, I can't even use one to write the rest's RMA's.
is it a pen? Is it a pencil? It's neither, and it's not good at either function.
I had high hopes for this, since I'm a big fan of pencils over pens. In practice, this utensil is not a suitable replacement for a pencil. It is impossible to leave a mark without a heavy hand, and this leads to hand fatigue very quickly. When it is writing, it skips quite often, leaving gaps in the line. If you write with a small, neat hand as I do, you will find that the gaps left by this instrument can render portions of your writing illegible.
I respect the Sharpie brand name, and I really wanted to like this, unfortunately, I can not recommend this. It gets two stars instead of one because it works better if you're willing to press down hard, and it does erase very cleanly.
If Sharpie can improve the flow of the liquid graphite so that it does not require brute force to leave a consistent line, this would be a much better product.
After extensive testing I have determined that Sharpie has duped all those nerds out there that were eager to try out their new liquid graphite mechanical pencil, me included. It writes as smooth as sandpaper, and leaves chunks of debris when you first lay pencil to paper. It is the perfect storm of poor design. It is absolutely aggravating to even attempt using this as a writing tool. It does however make a decent weapon, if you're feeling stabby. Which you will be after using this product.
The ink/lead flow is not consistent enough to respond to [my] normal writing speed. If you've got time to make measured, deliberate marks (and don't mind seeing a little ghosting between the time the pencil hits the page and the lead gets completely flowing) then you're mostly likely not going to have a problem with this. Art, Engineering, Math and Computer Science majors aren't going to like this at all.
On the plus side, the lead erases as cleanly as that from my mechanical pencil.
I wouldn't recommend this to anyone I know.
I was very excited by the promise of a new type of pencil that would have some type of magical (sent from space) liquid graphite that would give me all the things I love about pencils, but also the permanent nature of a pen. I quickly ordered 3. One for me, two as gifts.
They arrived today and were cracked open immediately. Turns out, we were duped.
This is not a liquid pencil. It's one of those lame erasable pens just using a fancy name. Guess what? That "technology" sucked a few years ago and has not improved. Don't waste your money on this. It's not only a bad pencil (there's actually nothing pencil-y about it except crummy erasing), it's also a pretty worthless pen. This was agreed on by all 3 of us.
Save your money. Don't give in to curiosity.
I am an avid fan of mechanical pencils. However, the retractable/covered tip convenience/security of many pens is a significant benefit. Of course, they're still pens--so they still make exclusively permanent marks.
Upon hearing about these on NPR, I pre-ordered two from Amazon. "Of course I'll want two, they have the (temporary) impermanence of a pencil, with the convenience of a pen! I'll have the best of both worlds!" How wrong I was.
The packaging was average--you have to rip the backing to pieces to get to the contents.
The clicking retractable-tip action was loose, without feeling like it would fall apart. Could be a positive or negative, depending on your preference.
I thought it was odd that three replacement erasers were included. Thirty seconds of testing showed me why. The eraser is consumed to a somewhat high degree with use. Erasing only a few words written swiftly on the outside of an envelope used a noticeable amount of eraser.
The biggest problem is in its main "asset." It does not write well. I have a fairly light touch with a pencil or pen. When possible, I like to use B or 2B darkness pencils for normal use. Most mechanical pencils, even with HB graphite sticks, still do a great job because of their increased precision, i.e., their small writing tip. (I was recently gifted a 0.3mm mechanical pencil--Alvin Draft-Line Mechanical Pencil - 0.3 mm, Draft-Line Mechanical Pencil--and it is a dream!) Unfortunately, this pencil writes more poorly than the pens chained to desks at banks.
* You must write with moderate pressure. Use too little and it doesn't write. Use too much and it doesn't write.
* Lines are broken as your pressure varies from the "sweet spot."
* It makes "clumps" on the page. Ever write with a cheap ballpoint pen and have it, for no apparent reason, lay a glob of ink/goo at the initiation or termination of an otherwise smooth stroke? This pencil does that.
* As a result of the very-specific amount of pressure required, there is no chance of using this pencil for any form of drawing/sketching which requires a variety of stroke darkness.
* The worst problem, only publicized a few hours ago by Engadget ([...]), is that the main "feature" of the pencil, its dries-like-a-pen markings, do not work as advertised.
I am truly disappointed.
"Liquid Mechanical Pencil, you are a pox on the brand of Sharpie. Be gone!" - Office Supplies - Pencil - Mechanical Pencil - School Supplies'
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