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Creative ZEN Hybrid Headphones Review
Creative ZEN Hybrid Headphones Review

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Ti2 Design TechLiner Pen Review

The Ti2 TechLiner pen differs from my other fav Kickstarter pens in that it uses magnets to hold the cap to the pen. How cool is that? My Titanium with gonzodized (by Brad Martin) finished arrived today. What a beautiful finish ! It is hard to describe it in words. Checkout the pictures.

The grip section is really comfortable. The pen is thiner than, say the Tactile Turn Mover, and it is a little lighter. Overall I find it very comfortable to hold and write with. The magnetic cap is neat, but it also makes capping and uncapping quicker. Useful. I do not know if the Signo 207 refill will dry out if left uncapped. Anyone knows?

I bought the extra lanyard cap. I think it looks much nicer. I find a small issue with it - the cap has a slight give when capped, which does not happy with the standard cap. I wonder why.

The magnets are really strong so there is no danger in the pen getting uncapped accidentally. In fact is is really fun to play with the cap and pen. Note that polarity matters. So when you take the pen apart, make sure you put the magnets back in the right orientation.

Take a look at this diagram (drawn with the TechLiner) below. There is a filler and a magnet in the back of the pen. When I took the pen apart to see the refill, they fell out and I nearly lost them. So be very careful when you disassemble the pen. There is also a small ring in the front that acts a little like a shim. Do not loose that!

Over all, this is going to be my fav pen now. It uses a very nice Signo 207 0.5mm refill. Since there is a spacer in the body, other refills may work also. Stay tune for an update.

Tactile Turn Titanium Mover Pen Review

My Tactile Turn Mover in titanium arrived today ! I have been looking forward to getting this pen I backed on KickStarter for a while. My favorite maker of this class of hand machined pens is of course Karas Kustoms. However one problem with my Karas Kustoms Retrakt is that it is too smooth. I find it hard to hold the pen for a long time. The Tactile Turn pens are famous for their special spiral machined into the grip section that makes holding the pen comfortable, so I backed their project.

How does it compare?

  • Because I have the Titanium Mover vs the Aluminium Retrakt, the Mover is slightly heavier, but not uncomfortably so.
  • The groves in the grip section really works well. The pen is much easier to hold and write with
  • The Mover comes with a really nice "case" (see photo). I think that is really smart packaging
  • The click machanism looks just like the one used in the Ratrakt

So are there any negatives? A few small ones:

  • The threading on the body (when you open the pen to access the refill) is not as smooth as the Retrakt.
  • It does not come with any additional spacers and springs. When I got the pen it comes with a Pilot G2 0.38 gel refill which is nice, but I prefer the Pilot Acroball refill (BRPV-10EF). I swapped it right away and used the spring I got from the Acroball body. Kara Kustoms ships their pen with extra springs and spacers.
  • The pen arrived with the refill clicked "in", and some ink has leaked out because of it
  • Finally - this is the only flaw that I find -- because of the spiral grove, the end of the pen has a sharp edge to it (see picture). I think that should be smoothed out.

Conclusion

Still love the pen. I think I will use this more than my Retrakt now. I really hope they fixed the edge problem going forward.


Karas Kustoms INK Machine Pen

Just a few pictures to wet your apetite.

Come back later for more reviews.