My Favorite Mechanical Pencil
John Gruber from Daring Fireball likes the Zebra Sarasa pen. That's great and all, but what about pencil users? What should they use?
I'll tell you. The Pentel® Quicker-Clicker™ Mechanical Pencil.
Look & Feel
The quicker-clicker comes in two colors: transparent blue (good for home use) and transparent smoke (a black version for the office). It has a latex-free grippy area that feels very nice on the fingers, and a transparent lead containment tube that lets you see how much lead you have left (unlike competing mechanical pencils that have cheaper, solid containment tubes). When writing, the lead in the tube doesn't clack against the edges as much as you'd expect, letting you sketch without being distracted. The clip is made of unibody shiny silver stuff that bends just enough to let you clip it into your pocket protector or a small stack of papers, which is very useful and a welcome addition. I've never had the sliver clip snap either; a testament to the pencil's build quality. The pencil is lightweight for intense writing sessions and the balance is very, very good, we're talking zen-like balance right here. The included soft eraser feels great on your hand when erasing pencil smudge, and doesn't leave marks like traditional wooden pencil erasers. The clicker gives a very solid-feeling click when compressed, and it doesn't make a lot of sound either, which is great for the classroom.
Functionality
Like you'd expect, the quicker-clicker can write and erase things using its lead and eraser, respectively. The other way around doesn't work unless you're using a completely scribbled-up piece of paper. The clicker, as noted above, works very well during average use. Each click pushes out a carefully measured segment of the lead stick inside, and I've found that with just one or two clicks I have enough lead to keep writing for a while. One of the great things about this mechanical pencil is that the lead stick doesn't fall completely out when the clicker is compressed like you see with cheaper plasticky pencils. This is a fantastic feature. I'm not sure how they do it, maybe it's just magic, but it's extremely useful, you don't even have to worry about it.
There is, however, one complaint I have with the clicker. When writing papers or doodling completely upside down (eraser pointed perpendicular to the floor), the lead doesn't really come out quite enough as I'd like it to. Sometimes I have to click it 3-5 times for enough lead to come out to continue doodling. I'm sure that a lot of people write upside down like this, so that could be a con for many people. Of course, the problem could be solved by tilting your wrist 90º, but that just complicates things. I really wish the designers corrected this one flaw before sending this off to mass-manufacturing. If this upsets you dearly, then you might want to try other mechanical pencils.
The lead containment cylinder can hold a lot of lead sticks too, which is really great, and it never jams up. The lead is inserted by pulling the eraser off and placing them into the chamber, and when you're done you just pop the eraser back into its metallic-silver holder and put it back on the pencil. Speaking of the metallic-silver eraser holder, it provides a nice snug fit for the eraser, and no matter how crazily you wave your arms around it's not going to fall out. I don't chew my erasers, but if you do then it could fall out, hard to say.
Durability
I used the same pencil through all four years of high school. It'll last you.
Accessories
You can get eraser refills or 0.7 mm lead refills. Like I said, it's simple, even the accessories for this pencil don't have any unnecessary frills.
Wrap-up
If you're in the market for a mechanical pencil, I highly recommend the Pentel® Quicker-Clicker™ Mechanical Pencil. It's got a great design, good balance, a market-leading clicker, a unibody clip, a superb grippy, an eraser, and a transparent lead containment tube. I'm pretty sure this pencil is the reason I got into college, so it'll definitely take you places. Pentel® did a great job making this pencil, and I can't wait to see what improvements they could make to future models. Easily the best mechanical pencil on the market right now, it's like night and day. Go get it.