What Is A Good, Cheap (<40$) Pen For A College Student?

[Katt93]

I like the way fountain pens write and I feel they fit my handwritting best. I'm looking for one that I can take to school to take notes with. So It has to be durable and easy to write with for a long time, also it would be good if the ink cartriges weren't too expensive/hard to find, and I prefer a fine tip. The obvious choice from what I've read on this forum would be the Lamy Saffari, but quite frankly I just think they're really ugly, lol. I like some of the vintage ones I've seen for sale online, but I'm afraid they'd be too fragile, and idk which ones take standard ink cartriges(I need to be able to replace the cartrige in class). Any suggestions? You'd be the ones to know. Please and Thank You! -Katt

[inkspot]

Welcome!

 

The best advice I can give is to try as many pens in your range as you can to see what fits you best. In terms of recommendations, I like the Parker Urban for a workhorse pen. They are comfortable to write with for a long time, reliable, and durable. I have two and both get a lot of use. They work with any international cartridge or converter if you want to use bottled ink as well. They're usually priced at around $30-$35.

 

Hope you find a pen that will work well for you!

[Tberry010]

Katt:First welcome aboard. This is one of if not the best forum around. Hope you enjoy>

As to your question, you will likely get a number of responses and you might want to browse the archives for answers to questions very much like yours.

Meanwhile, I suggest that you look for pens that have both a converter and cartridges since that will give you the most options at school.

There are lots of pens and many have proprietary cartridges and unless you do business by mail or go to school in a large place finding those carts may be a problem. Pens that use the international carts may be best to start with since those carts can be found in many stores.

Good luck with your pen search and with your studies.

Tom

[threeamigos]

You may want to consider the Pilot 78G. You can get them on ebay for $10.00 with free shipping. I've purchased several from this seller and they arrive in the USA from China in only about a week:

 

http://myworld.ebay.com/poky_stationery/?_trksid=p4340.l2559

 

I've also purchased from Stationary Art for about the same price when shipping is factored and they also have relatively fast shipping:

 

http://www.stationeryart.com/pilot-namiki-pilot-namiki-gold-ring-fountain-black-p-100.html

 

The 78G fine nib is really narrow compared to the Safari fine. I personally like the medium and broad/stub better than the fine, but I find all the 78G nibs to be very smooth. You can check out the pen review forum for more details about the 78G. I did purchase several boxes of cartridges, but often just use a syringe to refill the empty cartridges with any ink I want. I don't like the converter that comes with the pen and really only use it to flush the pen.

 

For $10, this would be a great pen for a student budget.

[bitterwonder]

Lamy Safari might be non tempermental.

 

BTW I used an old waterman from 1935 all through grade, high, college and grad school, still have it still use it.

[PAKMAN]

TWSBI 540

[ExcaliburZ]

A Twsbi Diamond 540 is a good choice. It is a piston filler with a large ink capacity, so fill it in the morning and you will be good all day. The 540 has a very solid construction and a good nib. Also if you don't like it you will be able to resell it quickly.

[mooshi]

Hello, Katt. Firstly, welcome! I do hope you enjoy your stay here.

 

As a fellow college student, I know what you're going through.

 

I personally do carry the Lamy Vista (clear version of Safari) with Fine nib to school. However, I enjoy the eastern definition of "Fine," so I find that Asian pens more my tastes.

 

In comes the Preppy. This is the pen that I carry around with me EVERYWHERE. It's cheap enough that I wouldn't cry if it were to get stolen or damaged. It's durable enough to be tossed in my bag - I've heard stories where people have had problems with cracked caps, but I've tossed mine into my school bag for over 3 years now and it's still going strong. It can be had for as little as $4.00.

 

The other pens I carry to school with me include the Pilot 78G (B/Stub; ~$10.00), Parker 45 Flighter (F; ~$30.00), and Hero 616 (EF; $2.00).

 

All of these pens serve their purpose and have been wonderful to me. I've never had any problems with them at all. You'll find that the Hero pens are a hit and miss, but if you find a reliable seller (or HisNibs who tweaks all nibs before shipping them out), they'll write nicely.

 

All of these, minus the Hero, take cartridges. So they'll be easy to change out during the school day if needed. For myself, however, I find that the cartridges last throughout the day (or week) perfectly fine since the finer nibs lay down less ink. If it's a heavy use pen, I just make sure to syringe fill the cartridge in the morning before heading out to school.

 

Happy writing.

[strawtarget]

Kaweco Sport. Totally great college pen.

 

- Takes cheap and highly available "international short" cartridges.

- Small and easy to carry in pants pocket or backpack.

- Cap screws on; very secure / won't leak.

- Fantastic nib.

- Inexpensive!

[fncll]

Everyone has mentioned what I was going to, but to reiterate, and in order:

 

TWSBI 530, but might be $50?

Pilot 78G

Hero 616 Jumbo

Kaweco Sport

 

For the Pilot and Hero (and possibly the Kaweco), I can't recommend Todd at isellpens.com highly enough...

[andrew98]

Everyone has mentioned what I was going to, but to reiterate, and in order:

 

TWSBI 530, but might be $50?

Pilot 78G

Hero 616 Jumbo

Kaweco Sport

 

For the Pilot and Hero (and possibly the Kaweco), I can't recommend Todd at isellpens.com highly enough...

 

+1. The 78g is a great pen, regardless of price. I also really enjoy my Kaweco Sport. The M nib is almost as fine as my Pilot Vanishing Point's F nib.

 

-Andy

 

Edit: Parker Frontier and Lamy Nexx are also inexpensive pens with which I've had good luck. I've also found 2 Waterman Laureat M nib pens on ebay in the past for $30 each. That would be an excellent way to go, as well.

Edited August 10, 2011 by andrew98

[nxn96]

A nice alternative might be a Sheaffer 330/440/444 or a Parker 45. Both are well made, durable, vintage pens that can often be found as NOS (new old stock). Probably would be at the upper end (maybe a little over) of your budget, but I think would be well worth the investment. Both the Sheaffers and the Parker are cartridge/converter pens, and the cartridges are usually pretty easy to source. If you go into this with the idea of using the converter and keeping the cartridges handy in case you unexpectedly "run dry" in mid-class, your overall cost of use can be managed.

 

Personally, as much as I like the 45, I've found the abovementioned Sheaffers to be among the most pleasant users in this price bracket. Peyton Street Pens (no affiliations, etc.) is a great source for NOS Sheaffers if you're interested.

 

Hope this helps, and good luck in the school year.

[kalali]

My favorite "cheap" Fpen is Pelikan Pelikano Jr. It looks cool (mine is the blue with yellow grip), is very smooth writer, very comfortable in the hand and can be had for ~$10. The only drawback is the absence of a clip.

[Julio]

I will send you a couple pens suitable for your college work. (You pay the postage/handling). Save your money to when you will want a new Pelikan 2xx for double your budget delivered. Contact bc if interested. Offer for Pen for as College student...

[Gobblecup]

I also think you should give the TWSBI 540 a try, it's very durable for a fountain pen, writes well (well my 530 does and they are the same quality nibs), and holds plenty of ink. I think it will service you very well, even if you have to sacrifice two 'starbucks fraps' for the extra $10.

[svfd757]

Lamy Safari and TWSBI 540 are great choices. For a few bucks more you could get your fingers on a user grade Parker 51. Safari is a tough pen. TWSBI and Parker are very nice pens as well

[jjaberg]

Didn't think about the TWSBI 540 - nice pen, but I paid > $40 for mine. Did I pay too much?

 

Count me as a +1 vote for the Safari.

[Bluefinntuna]

I must add to the chorus of

 

TWSBI 540 (piston filler)

Lamy Safari/Vista/All Star (cartridge or converter)

Kaweco Sport (cartridge or eyedropper)

Pilot Prera (cartridge or converter)

Pelikan m200s (piston filler)

 

You really can not go wrong with any. Just get one, then another, then another, and so on.... :roflmho:

[ExcaliburZ]

Didn't think about the TWSBI 540 - nice pen, but I paid > $40 for mine. Did I pay too much?

 

Count me as a +1 vote for the Safari.

 

Its a $50 dollar pen, so paying more then sixty is paying much.

[Winchester]

I'm looking at the TWSBI 540 as well, another contender would be the sheaffer 444 X pens that you find on ebay, I have no idea which one is considered the better quality pen, the sheaffers are NOS from the 1970s though.