MB 149 or M800 or Duofold?

[lorin]

Hello,

time to buy myself a present and I restrained my search at these three models.

Prices here in Romania are high, the MB 149 sells for 500Euros, the Pelikan M800 sells for 300Euros and the Parker Duofold sells for 385Euros. The price is not a strong issue though. What I need is a strong, big FP (big hands here), that will write and draw and last.

If I second my "feeling", I like the most the 149, then the M800 and lastly, the Parker. However, all of them are very beautiful FP and liking will not be a choosing criterion.

I've red about the recent MB that they are not very reliable and the precious resin might break.

About the M800 and the Duofold I've red only good reviews.

So, which model would you reccomend me?

 

Thank you in advance,

Lorin

[Titivillus]

Hello,

time to buy myself a present and I restrained my search at these three models.

Prices here in Romania are high, the MB 149 sells for 500Euros, the Pelikan M800 sells for 300Euros and the Parker Duofold sells for 385Euros. The price is not a strong issue though. What I need is a strong, big FP (big hands here), that will write and draw and last.

If I second my "feeling", I like the most the 149, then the M800 and lastly, the Parker. However, all of them are very beautiful FP and liking will not be a choosing criterion.

I've red about the recent MB that they are not very reliable and the precious resin might break.

About the M800 and the Duofold I've red only good reviews.

So, which model would you reccomend me?

 

Thank you in advance,

Lorin

Maybe look also to an Aurora Talentum which is a little larger than a Duofold Centennial.

 

 

It is going to come down to you liking the pen so I would suggest that you find a store where you might be able to try all of the pens.

 

 

 

Kurt H

[lorin]

Thank you very much Kurt!

No Aurora in Romania, though. But I like very much your suggestion and ideea, maybe I'll buy one nex year when I'll go to Italy.

Is it as reliable as the M800?

 

Best regards,

Lorin

[TMann]

Lorin,

 

Hello! I think that you would be very happy with any of the pens that you mention.

 

I currently own a Pelikan m600 and a Parker Duofold International. These two pens are the smaller "cousins" of the Pelikan m800 and the Parker Duofold Centennial. Both the Pelikan and the Parker are very well made, and write very smoothly.

 

The Pelikan m800 and Parker Duofold Centennial are both full-sized pens, and would work well for someone who has large hands.

 

Good luck with your search!

 

TMann

[southpaw]

Hard decision - keep in mind that the 149 and M800 are piston fillers (IIRC on the 149), whereas the Parker is a c/c. The Parker will be high and dry when the other two still have tons of ink left - given the same nib, of course. M800 are known to have rock-solid reliability. Don't know much on the other two.

[Blade Runner]

Hi,

 

All excellent choices, and it most depends on how it fits your hand and budget

and how the nib feels to you.

 

I vote for the 149. I've had trouble free use for 11 years, it, probably holds at least as much ink as the 800 and more than the Duofold, it is heavier than the 800 and probably heavier than the Duofold (i don't own a Duofold), and I prefer the torpedo shape.

 

As to the criticism of weak resin on the Meisterstuck pens, I have never had a problem, but I have never dropped mine on a hard floor to find out. I have heard of of Pelikan Sourveran pens shattering and breaking in two when dropped onto a hard floor, so I wouldn't consider this "reputation" to be peculiar to Meisterstucks.

 

The 800 and Duofold have metal trim next to the nib, a potential corrosion site.

 

Regards,

Jeen

[lorin]

Hi Jenn, finally somebody is defending the MB149. What about this bad experience described here: http://www.rickconner.net/penoply/mb.0.html

Do you think it might have been an accident?

Thank you very much,

Lorin

[lorin]

Scuse me Jenn, the correct link to the MB149 user experience is here: http://www.rickconner.net/penoply/mb.3.html

[lorin]

For TMann and Southpaw: your oppinions lead me towards the M800, as I like very much at this model the piston filling detail.

Thank you very much for your inputs,

Lorin

[Richard]

Hard decision - keep in mind that the 149 and M800 are piston fillers (IIRC on the 149), whereas the Parker is a c/c. The Parker will be high and dry when the other two still have tons of ink left...

Non sequitur, mi amice.

 

The M800 ought to have tons of capacity, but its piston stroke is surprisingly short, and in fact its capacity is less than that of a Parker cartridge!

 

Given the choice of these three pens, and even with the capacity thing, I'd go for the Pelikan in a heartbeat. They're all good pens, but the Pelikan offers user-interchangeable nibs and rock-solid construction at a lower price than the others. The 149, because it is made of Montblanc's "precious resin," risks cracking and chipping if it's dropped. The Parker is an excellent pen, but IMHO it's just not in the same "writing experience" league as the Pel.

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

Sure, the M800 is a better pen in my opinion.

 

Dillon

[acfrery]

I like my MB 149 very much, and after more than fifteen years of use it fell to the floor and the cap cracked badly. The service was prompt, and expensive. Before that, the piston refused to drink from the bottle, in that case the service was also prompt and free of any charge. Excellent experiences in both cases.

 

On the other side of the balance, the possibility of exchanging nibs that Pelikans offers is too tempting to be ignored. Also the variety of colors of the 800 model is very interesting.

 

Tough decision! Good luck and let us know your final choice!

[amin]

I got a red M800 for Christmas. Gorgeous pen with awesome build quality, but the nib experience out of the box is leaving something to be desired. Some no-start action is giving my the blues. Tried some very minor nib adjustments with my thumbnails to no avail. If this doesn't work itself out, I'm going to see if Chartpak will replace the nib. I bought new from an authorized dealer, so I suspect they will.

[southpaw]

Hard decision - keep in mind that the 149 and M800 are piston fillers (IIRC on the 149), whereas the Parker is a c/c. The Parker will be high and dry when the other two still have tons of ink left...

Non sequitur, mi amice.

 

The M800 ought to have tons of capacity, but its piston stroke is surprisingly short, and in fact its capacity is less than that of a Parker cartridge!

 

Given the choice of these three pens, and even with the capacity thing, I'd go for the Pelikan in a heartbeat. They're all good pens, but the Pelikan offers user-interchangeable nibs and rock-solid construction at a lower price than the others. The 149, because it is made of Montblanc's "precious resin," risks cracking and chipping if it's dropped. The Parker is an excellent pen, but IMHO it's just not in the same "writing experience" league as the Pel.

I had an M800 for a bit and I find this a bit hard to believe. However, I trust Master Binder and trust his statement. Anyone got actual numbers - mls? I'm very curious now.

[Blade Runner]

Scuse me Jenn, the correct link to the MB149 user experience is here: http://www.rickconner.net/penoply/mb.3.html

Hi,

 

Certainly one cannot generalize that nib/feed problem to all 149s.

I do agree with the difficulty of posting, but it's such a large pen,

most people could write with it unposted.

I've only used one ink in my 149, so I can't say how much effort it would take to flush it, but I don't think there would be much of a difference to other piston fillers in that regard.

As for price, it is too high in my opinion, but nice used ones can be found for much less.

 

Good luck,

Jeen

[Mescof1]

Hello:

 

I have a MB 146, the Pelican 800, and two Parker Centennials. I have not had any trouble with my MB, but I would not recommend it, simply because of the construction. Also, I think the MB is only guaranteed for 1 yr. while the Pelican and Parker carry a lifetime.

 

My Pelican has a very flexible nib and my Parker's are firm. I think the choice would be between the Parker and the Pelican if it were me. If you want a flex nib and bottle fill only I would go for the Pelican. If you want a firm nib and the flexibility of using cartridges, I would go for the Parker.

 

Both the Pelican and Parker are big pens and are a pleasure to write with for extended periods. I have no experience in dealing with Pelican's repair site, but have had excellent results in dealing with Parker on nib exchanges, etc.

 

Mescoff

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

Pelikan holds for three years of Warranty. <_<

 

Anyway, I would go for Pelikan because they repaired my Pre-1996 M200 free of charge.

 

Dillon

[Blade Runner]

Hello:

 

I have not had any trouble with my MB, but I would not recommend it, simply because of the construction.

Hi,

 

Could you please provide specifics about the 146 construction that you don't like?

It's a pen that keeps calling my name.

 

Cheers,

Jeen

[Slush99]

Go for Pelikan. It's a good pen( or so I've heard) but so is montblanc. I haven't written or held a Montblanc 149, but I plan to get one.

[Mescof1]

Hi Jeen:

 

It's just a personal preference for me. Like I said, I've never had any trouble with the MB, it just feals "cheap" in my hand. Doesn't balance well for me. It doesn't have the heft or the balance for me that my Pelican 800 and Parkers have. I have big hands, and like a big pen with some weight to it.

 

I almost bought a MB 149 three years ago at a MB store in a shopping center near me. They let me "ink" up three and none wrote well. Either they were hard to get going or they skipped. My 146 wrote good out of the box: I also have a 144 that writes well, although I never use it---too small.

 

I'm a Technical Writer, and although I use a computer for most writing, I still do a lot by hand---especially proofreading and editing. My boss is old fashioned and we were not allowed to use computers untill three years ago. Everything was done by hand, so that ment a lot of 8 and 10 hour days of handwriting.

 

Again, it's just a personal preference. If I could have only one of my 17 fountain pens, it would be the Parker. It's always with me. It just feels good in the hand, flows well, and has never let me down---I've run all kinds of ink through it without any problems. I purchased my last Parker in May of this year, and it came down to another Parker or a Conway Stewart Churchill. The Parker won out and I haven't looked back.

 

Mescoff