Manufacturer Model Overall Comments Aurora Style 5 The Aurora style, list price $50.00 as of 7/03, street price as low as $35, for the black/chrome cap model, is a great pen for the price. The pen has NEVER skipped, and always starts right away. The drawbacks to this pen are: 1) Cap does not post very securely. But I do not write with cap posted. 2) The nib has no flex, for those out there that want a flexible nib, this is not your pen. I don't care about the flex, as I use a lot of carbon copies. 3) It is a light pen, so for those that desire a heavier pen, this may not be it. It is now the pen I use daily, with waterman havana ink. Aurora Ipsilon 4 Reviewing a fine nib. It is smooth, yet not smooth. Has some "scratchiness", but in a pleasant "road feel" sort of way. The nib writes the same across even the most discerning of papers (Protonix prescription pads) without any resistance. Upstroke, downstroke, horizontal strokes -- never any resistance. I like the writing better than the Pelikan M200. A great under-$100 pen. Aurora Talentum 1 Returned for a refund after 2 days. Leaked. Refused to start. For one quarter of the price I got a Pelikan M200, which is excellent. Cross Century II 3 Skips a lot with cross ink. Cross Radiance 4 Extremely smooth writing pen. It's a Medium point which is much like a Sheaffer or Parker fine. I like it a lot. The pen feels very good in the hand and performs flawlessly. Cross Townsend 2 This is an incredibly heavy pen, especially with the cap on. It writes fairly well, but has developed a leakage problem with the converter after about 3 years. Hero 100 5 It's a brand new aerometric Parker 51, as good as the original, with a spring clip, for less than the price of a Sonnet! What's not to like? Hero 329 2 Looks great, similar to Parker 51, but only comes with a fine nib, which tends to be scratchy. Aerometric filler fills easily on this inexpensive pen. Lamy Al-Star 5 Very nice pen, for its price, writes good, grip comfort and balance are top of the hill. Well done Lamy! Lamy Al Star 4 The Lamy Safari/Al Star line is excellent, hard to find a better pen for the money. Lamy Al Star 5 Excellent pen for the money, unique look, doesn't try to copy anything else. Lamy Logo 4 The Lamy Logo, list price $45.00 as of 7/03, street price as low as $22.50, for the stainless steel model, is a decent pen for the price. The pen doesn't skip, writes pretty smoothly, and always starts. The medium nib lays down a fairly wet line, and the nib runs a bit wide for my taste. The drawbacks to this pen are: 1) The nib has no flex, for those out there that want a flexible nib, this is not your pen. I don't care about the flex, as I use a lot of carbon copies. 2) It is a light pen, so for those that desire a heavier pen, this may not be it. 3) The pen is on the thin side, so those that like wide sections or barrels, this is not your pen. I don't use it as often as my Aurora Style, though, but it's not bad for the money. Lamy 2000 5 Great pen! A true classic! Lamy 2000 2 Overall, this pen has been a disappointment. I bought it because it seemed at first glance to be a durable, relatively light pen with a broad barrel. Also it was my first foray into the world of gold-nib pens, having used the Waterman Phileas and Schaeffer Triumph in the past. However, this pen is hard to grip because the nib end of the barrel is so sharply tapered. In effect, it is a very narrow pen when held in a writing position. It also seems poorly balanced when posted. Together, these factors have made for a tiring writing experience. (I sometimes write up to 60 pages of longhand per week.) The other difficulty is that it distributes ink inconsistently. Ink flow rarely starts on the first try, and it skips when writing quickly. The good points? Well, the nib is smooth, the appearance is attractive, and the finish quality seems excellent. Overall, though, I think there are much better fountain pen values available. Levenger LS3 4 This is a very nice, hefty pen. Ink flow was a problem, but somehow fixed itself. Nib is very, very stiff, but somehow adapts to the user. The nib adapts on this pen; ink flow is much, much better after my friend used it for a day or so. Actually, since he has used it, I have never had ink flow problems. For some reason, the pen makes you always want to write in cursive. Overall, a definite keeper; I love it. One of those "no worries" pen that you don't have to be scared of throwing around. Levenger Sangria 3 Neat little pen set but not worth what Levengers is charging in their catalogue. I paid $20.00 for the set ball point and cartridge fountain pen by ordering over the phone from Levenger and by doing so I was informed it was on special but it was unadvertised. No converter but it looks like it could take one or use the long Waterman carts. A neat pen set for $20.00, the ball point is not bad and will take a Parker Gel refill which is a plus. The model I chose was the clear cap and grip. The pens have a section that has a grippy plastic or rubber textured grip that matches the cap. Once started it tends to write well but as with virtually all cheap cartridge pens they can be very balky unless stored horizontally. It would probably work better with a converter and some Private Reserve ink rather than Levenger cartridges which I find tend to foul nibs and feeds if the pen is not used for sometime. Levenger True Writer 1 Ink kept stopping; nib finally broke! Could it have been the Levenger's Ink (brown) which has also been a problem in my normally reliable Parker pen? Levenger Verona 4 The Verona looks to be a version of the Stipula I Castoni. It is a gorgeous pen that writes well with the right (thin) ink. Montblanc Generations 2 It seems that Mont Blanc tries to make corporate jewelry rather than writing instruments. The Generations is an improvement over the Meisterstuck, but the writing smoothness is poor. Montblanc No. 142 1 My biggest disappointment in a fountain pen. It is a balky writer that spreads ink poorly. Probably my most expensive of 20+ fountain pens, I use it very rarely. Montegrappa Extra 5 Italian luxury, but with a touch of German Pünktligkeit und Solide build. The red celluloid sparks and gets a lot of comment by non-FP users. semi-flexible nib and smooth rich ink flow Montegrappa Extra 3 The Montegrappa Extra is big celluloid pen with a notably huge nib and sterling silver section and trim. The celluloid is quite beautiful, mine is the red one. The nib and sterling silver section are the most amazing aspect of this pen though. The nib is massive and beautiful to behold. To write with mine (a medium) is pretty smooth, quite soft (rather than flexible) and lays down a very wet line. I wouldn't say it knocks my socks off though. Also mine doesn't always start first time and is quick to dry out (like many Monties so I'm told). It has a hand turned ebonite feed, which is also massive and makes the one on my OMAS look a bit pedestrian. The pen is hefty, and the cap takes an age to screw on or off, but posts fairly securely. I love my Extra but probably more as an object to admire than to use as a writing instrument. Montegrappa Extra 4  A very good pen, I have (also had) lots of other pens, Montblanc 146, 149, Mozart, Waterman Edson, Serenity, Pilot Capless, Parker 75, 95, Duofold, Omas 360 (the white whale), but I stopped collecting. I found the Pilot Capless useful for daily writing in the office and use the Montegrappa Extra (blue) for writing the bigger pieces, letters, starts of essays etc. It's flex. nib, it's comfortable weight, always starting nib (use Herbin "ink for man" black, great ink, could buy a 1 liter (~2 pints) bottle of the stuff for a 65 euro ~$62), and a good securing cap (4x 360 deg. turn!) The weight of the pen is considerable, when worn in a shirt pocket, you don't clip it in the middle of the pocket, but on a side it will work well. Many non-FP-ers are astonished by the pen, they like it, find it impressive, even in the "dull" black/blue version. Namiki Falcon 5 The best nib I have used, very flexible, very smooth. Great ink flow from the converter. Great pen to sketch with. Namiki Vanishing Point 5 I ordered my VP choosing a broad nib after reading that the nib size was Asian and that a broad would be equivalent to a medium in other brand. It does look right. I filled it with platinum black ink with the converter and the writing in the smoothest I ever experienced with a FP (my previous "smoothest" was my Duofold international). The look in blue carbonesque is great. The balance and weight make it an easy writing pen. Overall this is a great pen. Namiki Vanishing Point 5 Excellent build quality, very smooth. Medium nib runs very fine. Parker Duofold 5 I am very impressed with the Duofold. Obviously a classic design based on the 1920s Duofolds. Nibs are extremely smooth, but without much character. Pearl designs are beautiful. Balance is excellent and the Centennial design fits perfectly in my hand. I do find the International size too small. Overall a great pen, especially in the Centennial size. (The LEs are often very pretty) Parker 15 (Not a typo for 51) 5 I am 11 years old, and this is the first fountain pen that was completely mine (I was the first owner.).I LIKE the simple look of this pen. for a picture, visit http://www.parker.gr/engparker15.html Parket Frontier 5 My Frontier is a Flighter - I have a thing for the all-metal look. I like this pen as a writer a lot better than my Aurora Idea Flighter (which is also very nice), and it is only $33.00 US. The pen writes very smoothly - compared to the Aurora Idea it is a nicer experience. This is my favorite take-anywhere workhorse. Parker Reflex 4 This is a $7.00 pen, and with a steel tip and plastic body, works amazingly well. I put a $5.00 converter in it and run Aurora black ink, and it runs pretty well. I like my Frontier Flighter better, but for the money, you can't go wrong. http://www.parkerpen.co.uk/range_popup.php?ID=13 for a quick look. Parker Sonnet 2 This is a frustrating pen in that the writer has to adapt to the flexible nib which spreads some inks well, but many others poorly. Parker Vector 4 A pen with price tag similar to a simple BIC ballpoint. Clean minimalist looks. Great cap locking, no screwthreads. Great for writing notes at courses. Small price makes it expendable. A medium nib is almost too thick for my taste, but I guess that's Parker.   Pelikan M200 5 Excellent pen for the money. Love the piston filler. Seems to always start with no trouble. Not good if you have large hands...a little short. Pelikan M200 5 It is a beautiful pen, and even my wife said so. She hates to write in FP, but she actually wants this one. Sometimes it fails to start immediately in the first stroke, but I suspect it was due to the paper's quality. I love the somewhat flex nib, although not much. Pelikan M400 5 Very good celluloid barrel. Great Flow. Great for my small hands. Nib is on the semi-firm. Pelikan M400 5 the m400 is my all-day-writing-machine. i have it all the time in my daypack, sometimes together with the m620 san francisco. i searched a pen with a great nib and a good prize. i tested lamy (quite inovative pens, but the nibs are very broad and bit characterless, if you have pelikan-nibs in use), montblanc (bad image and too expensive), waterman (i have an man100, great pen, but nowadays waterman seems to have problems and they have no design-concept, which makes a waterman to a waterman). and i tested one pelikan m400 with a medium-nib. there have been some starting problems with the nib on same papers, but they lasted just some weeks. today i use the pen every day and enjoy the red stripes. there are not so many people who love them, most buy green-stripes. but at all, this pen could be one like turquois-shell: just a few people buy them. and once, they are not sold any longer, everyone wants a pen in red-stripes. the handling of the pen is quite well, but not as good as the handling of the 620-special-city-edition. torsten larbig frankfurt/main   Pelikan M400 5 I own many cheap pens and a few that cost several times as much as the M400. I have yet to run across a finer pen than the M400. This is simply a world class fountain pen worthy as an everyday user, and you can pick one up for under $150 US. Pelikan M600 4 A light-weight pen made for smooth writing for long periods. It shares the same nib as the M400, but would look better with a slightly larger nib. The nib doesn't have the flex of its bigger brothers and is a slightly drier writer. Pelikan M620 (SF) 5 i saw the pen in a store. i loved it at once. the reflection of the brown/green/grey surface, the weight, the smoothness of the nib. it seems to be the only chance to get a 600 with a 18k-nib. the pen is part of the special edition cities an is not longer sold by Pelikan. but some shops may have it or the have an other pen of this edition, although in my eys the surface of the san francisco seems the most beautiful one. the writing-smoothness is icredible good. i love it, like i like most of my Pelikan. torsten larbig frankfurt main Pelikan M400 5 Simply an excellent pen, although it does not always start smoothly Pelikan M800 4 Impeccable at the price Pelikan M800 5 The M800 is my favorite pen and I recommend it to all without any reservations. It is worth the price Pelikan M805 2 2 Nibs from Pelikan (1st medium--very scratchy, 2nd broad---scratchy and no flex) Will get 3rd replacement. Sailor Magellan 5 A very smooth and comfortable pen, both in the Japanese medium nib and Japanese broad nib. Senator Windsor 5 This fountain pen is a great writer. It has no skip problem and writes very smoothly. Sensa Meridian 4 Sensa really packs their nice box with a lot of things... a nice pen pillow, 6 ink cartridges, converter, lifetime warranty. The nib looks too small for the pen. The grip (plasmo-gel thingy) takes a little getting used to on a fountain pen; I tend to slightly rotate the writing angle often, and doing so feels weird when the gel has shaped itself to your fingers... may be better suited for ballpoints. Not a bad pen, but not perfect. Sheaffer Balance II Black 4 I use this pen every day and consume about 4 bottles of ink per year. I had to exchange the nib but the service at Shaeffer was very good. The new medium lifetime nib was good, although I had to use a 1 micron carbide smoothing paper to get the level of writing smoothness that I wanted.   Sheaffer Imperial 3 Good pen for the price. Typically new old stock for most retailers. Sending for an exchange dues to starting/skipping but very smooth. Sheaffer Prelude 5 Excellent value at $25 Stipula Novecento 4 Fine-looking pen. I have written with several Stipulas, and it appears that the nibs require a break-in period. The Novecento features the same large nib that is found on the Duetto and Etruria. This nib is known to be quite flexible. My broad is less flexible than the medium nibs I have written with, but the lines are wet and full of character. As a general rule, Stipulas leave a thick wet line. Stipula's medium nib will leave a line similar in thickness to Pelikan's broad. Overall, the Novecento is a great pen. I highly recommend it. Visconti Skeleton 4 Great looking pen; just had to have this with the cutout filigree design. I like using it, comfortable writer, in fact a truly excellent flex nib for a 14 k. Easier to hold than my Parker 75 which I am finding a bit small. Dislike / major flaw is the fill which does drip a bit until a fair bit of ink is let out. By comparison, my Pelikan M800 on filling needs to have about 5 drops put back into the bottle then it is fine (ie won't drip if you flick it); the Skeleton needs about 20 drops out then it is fine. So you lose a bit of ink capacity. If it was the same pen with a pelikan fill system then it would be a world beater. But a small price to pay for a really striking looking pen, attracted a lot of comments; and great value at the price. Visconti overall have done a great design job. Waterman Charleston 5 Once broken in, this is a pen you can use all day. It has the typical Waterman reliability, but with a lot more flair than most of their pens. Waterman Edson 5 Simply stunning! No other pen I own or have tried has as many of the excellent characteristics that this one has. Waterman Harley 4 Cool look, large size. The radical body form very well executed. Excellent fit and finish. Rather top heavy when posted. Waterman Hemisphere 4 The full-steel version is very heavy. Posting the cap significantly shifts balance to the rear and therefore cannot be recommended. Waterman Expert II 5 An excellent value pen with conservative good looks. It also writes dependably, but gets heavy in the hand over time. Waterman Liaison 4 Blk laquer model. The nib is reminiscent of the old Sheaffers. The nib unscrews by twisting far end of barrel which is a little different, but works. The pen is well balanced posted or not, but is heavy with the laquer. Fine nib is extremely smooth. No startup problems ever even after 15-20 min uncapped and no writing. Cap doesn't click when posted (untypical of Watermans) and although it is still secure, suspect will damage lacquer over time. Even though gold, nib not very expressive, which is not v. important to me. The fine nib writes smoothly which is most important to me. No complaints except maybe a little on the weight. Love the twisted rope accent - nautical and classy.