Baoer 79 Review

[Mister John]

In my recent foray into the world of Chinese pens, I was attracted to the Baoer 79, a copy of the Montblanc Starwalker. Here is my review:

 

Appearance 8/10: This is a handsome pen. The finish is matte black with what look to be laser etched silver horizontal and vertical lines. It would be easy to screw this up, but the lines are all perfectly done with no glitches that I can see. Even nicer yet, when the cap is secured fully, the lines on the cap correspond perfectly to those in the body of the pen. This pen uses threads for posting as well. Even more remarkably, everything lines up when posted too. Like the MB Starwalker, the cap is crowned by a half dome of glass. In the MB model, the snowcap is suspended in this dome while the Jinhao has an empty dome. This is a bit of a drawback since they do nothing whatever with the dome. There is no logo underneath; just a plain glass dome. From afar however, it is a pen that could easily be mistaken for its more expensive cousin.

Construction: 8/10: The pen is brass with what looks to be a paint, rather than lacquer overlay. The finishing is very good overall, with everything fitting to tight tolerances. The threading on the section and on the blind cap are well executed and very much up to standard. The converter sits solidly in place. Overall, this is a well-built pen. My main misgiving is with the finish, which looks great now but, given that it is only paint, seems unlikely to stand up over the long haul. Still, in the three weeks I've had the pen, nothing has gone wrong with it so far.

 

Weights and Measures: As one would expect of a brass pen, the weight is moderate, but not extreme. It is comparable to the MB 146. The balance is very good with the pen posted or unposted. The pen is identical in length to a MB 146.

 

Nib/Writing Quality 7/10: The nib is a simple steel affair modestly adorned with the Baoer rainbow logo along with the name Baoer printed vertically in open lettering. It's a nice enough nib, but hardly comparable to the MB that it is imitating. It writes smoothly, but was very dry when I first got it. Some small tweaks to spread the tines now produce a smooth, wet line. It is not silky smooth like a MB, but has some feedback like an Aurora nib. The main drawback is that the pen is a hard starter, requiring wetting at the start of the day to get it going. It produces a perfectly nice, western medium line without any distinguishing features. The nib does not flex.

 

Filling system 8/10: It fills via converter, which is smooth to operate and works perfectly well.

 

Cost/value 10/10: For under $10 including postage, you get a very credible clone of the Starwalker that writes smoothly and well. What more could you want?

 

Conclusion 8.2/10: As under $10 Chinese pens go, this one is a clear winner. You get a beautiful design evoking a top line pen and a solid writing, if rather pedestrian, writing experience. It has many nice touches like the glass dome, the threaded cap and posting system, and the precision of the lines on the pen. The big question mark is the durability of the paint job, which remains to be seen. Certainly compared to pens like the Hero 616, this is vastly better. Even compared to other Baoer pens, like the 574, which sell for a similar price, this one is vastly better crafted. A good purchase.

 

Note: Please forgive the quality of my photos. Shot with my iphone because I was too much in a hurry to pull out my real camera gear.

Edited March 24, 2013 by watch_art

[wastelanded]

Great review, thanks! Baoers are great pens for the money.

[usk15]

I bought one like this, after your review, I'm happy with my pen.

Like you say it is a hard starter, it looks more expensive than it is and it's very cheap.

It write smooth and wet and I like the size and weight.

On my pen unfortunately, the lines from the cap not align with the ones from barrel, but who cares?!?

 

8.5/10

[richardandtracy]

Thanks for the review. It's an interesting looking pen, even though I don't find it very attractive.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[TMac]

Thanks for a thorough review, Mister John!

 

I bought one of these several years ago, inked it up and thought it was a nice writer. Unfortunately, I dropped it and destroyed the nib and feed.

 

After adding your comments, maybe it's time to buy another one.

[oneill]

As I have said on many occasions on this forum Jinhao & Baoer {same company] have problems with the convertors so take my advice and wash out with a little Amonia and soap solution until the water runs clean and then you should have no further trouble, if that does not work then I would try another convertor which will only cost cents, overall these are very well made Brass pens which are fitted with some of the best nibs you will ever use, trust me I own some 40 or so of them and cant fault them and my collection only cost me app $400.00.

[subramaniyam]

I bought one yesterday, without the etched horizontal and vertical lines. Filled up with pelikan violet, and it writes as smooth as butter. I'll definitely be buying another one. Does it accept international cartridges too, apart from the converter?

 

Regards,

Subramaniyam

[richardandtracy]

Yes.

The convertor is an International c/c, so they just swap.

 

Regards,

 

Richard

[sitnstew]

Bought one today! This is a thing of beauty and for the $4 I paid, how could I go wrong. Thanks for the review!

[lovemy51]

great writer!

[robofkent]

I love my Baoer 79 and it has been my main pen for work for a month or so now. Sadly I have managed to scratch some paint off the cap revealing the brass underneath and the lacquer has worn off the section but it does write smoothly and I love the MB inspired design.

[Jamerelbe]

I bought one of these not too long ago, and have had the same experience as most commentators here: a great looking pen, writes really nicely... but a hard starter, every time. I also found the nib a little more susceptible than most to bending - press too hard in search of line variation, and your tines will stay splayed. On the plus side, it's relatively easy to bend them back again by turning the nib over and applying pressure in the reverse direction!

 

Overall though, a very nice pen - pleasant to look at, feels good in the hand, and (on my pen anyway) the nib is super smooth.

[av8r172]

I love the nib for it's semi-stub properties. I find that it is close to a fine stub.

[akafridi3]

I had two of these pens, they are very nice, looks much better in person. I gave both of them away as gifts to friends. Recommended, especially given the price.

[Silvire]

Quick question - Have you ever had anyone mistake it for a Mont Blanc?

[kopio]

I recently bought one of these and could not get it to start at all! It was quite frustrating. The nib and feed are held into the pen with a friction feed....and it was a bugger to get out. I had to use plyers with cushioning, but still managed to bugger up the ribs a bit. However, one I got the nib feed out I saw the problem. The nib feed didn't have a clean groove from top to bottom. I got out my trusty utility knife (very fine point) and scraped down both feed lines a couple of times. Reassembled and voila! Pen writes like a champ now. I would suggest that those of you having hard start issues dissassemble and see if the feed is clogged. It now writes very nicely, lays down a nice wet line and I am quite happy with my $8 purchase.

 

-Kopio

[MontPelikan]

Hello,

 

here is a little video review of this pen.

 

 

Thank you for watching.

 

MontPelikan