Parker Jotter (aka "The Pen that ruined my life")
Those of you who have been following my saga know that one day I walked into an Office Depot, accepted that I had a problem, and decided to stop buying pens until 2015.
What you might not know is that the very pen that prompted my horrific ban is the pen pictured to the left.
That is the Parker Jotter. A pen that is highly-esteemed and very popular. My impulse purchase of that exact pen is the one that forced me to acknowledge my pen problem and prompted me to impose my "I can't buy a pen until 2015" ban.
There's a lot to like about the pen, too. My favorite features are its clean, elegant build and the lack of branding on the pen. There is a "Parker" logo on the barrel, but on this silver-colored version it blends in nicely. This pen also comes in different tones, including some two-tone varieties that really fail to impress me.
Parker boasts this (according to the ink refill) as a "ballpen." It is not as smooth as a gel ink pen, but it's smoother than your average ball point pen.
It comes with a 1.0 tip, well above my preferred range. It rattles slightly at times. The tip of the pen is too narrow for me, forcing me to retreat to about 1/3 the distance back to write "comfortably." This comfort is short-lived. I simply cannot hold this pen comfortably for extended periods of time.
Then again, this pen is called the Parker Jotter and not the Parker Extended Writer. I suppose they should get credit for aptly naming the product.
What you might not know is that the very pen that prompted my horrific ban is the pen pictured to the left.
That is the Parker Jotter. A pen that is highly-esteemed and very popular. My impulse purchase of that exact pen is the one that forced me to acknowledge my pen problem and prompted me to impose my "I can't buy a pen until 2015" ban.
There's a lot to like about the pen, too. My favorite features are its clean, elegant build and the lack of branding on the pen. There is a "Parker" logo on the barrel, but on this silver-colored version it blends in nicely. This pen also comes in different tones, including some two-tone varieties that really fail to impress me.
Parker boasts this (according to the ink refill) as a "ballpen." It is not as smooth as a gel ink pen, but it's smoother than your average ball point pen.
It comes with a 1.0 tip, well above my preferred range. It rattles slightly at times. The tip of the pen is too narrow for me, forcing me to retreat to about 1/3 the distance back to write "comfortably." This comfort is short-lived. I simply cannot hold this pen comfortably for extended periods of time.
Then again, this pen is called the Parker Jotter and not the Parker Extended Writer. I suppose they should get credit for aptly naming the product.
As for that distinctive "arrow" clip, where do I even begin. My first impression is that it is a nice touch, something else that sets it apart from other pens in this category. But then the more sophisticated, politically-correct side of me started considering deeper possibilities:
You caught me; that third reason was not politically correct at all.
Back to reality, I will summarize my thoughts. This pen adds some class to your ink pen arsenal and looks great tucked into a faux-leather day planner (Don't ask me how I know that).
The Parker Jotter is a very nice pen, but it was not worth the 18-month pen buying ban that resulted.
If the fine folks at Parker Pens are reading this, it is possible I got a lemon. If you'd like to send me a few pens to test out I would be happy to compare them!
#PensPlease
- It could be mistaken as support of weaponry, and therefore should be banned from schools.
- It could be deemed as insulting to Native Americans and therefore is culturally insensitive to display.
- It could be arrogance on Parker's part, thinking that anybody stupid enough to spend $7-8 for an ink pen that comes in a blister pack would need instruction as to how to properly hold it.
You caught me; that third reason was not politically correct at all.
Back to reality, I will summarize my thoughts. This pen adds some class to your ink pen arsenal and looks great tucked into a faux-leather day planner (Don't ask me how I know that).
The Parker Jotter is a very nice pen, but it was not worth the 18-month pen buying ban that resulted.
If the fine folks at Parker Pens are reading this, it is possible I got a lemon. If you'd like to send me a few pens to test out I would be happy to compare them!
#PensPlease