Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

A Thing Of Beauty: The Rotring 600 0.5mm ....:::::: U P D A T E - Y E A R T W O ::::::.... I love the Rotring 600 so much, I am actually updating a review. I don't think that I've ever done that. Anyway, my initial 5 star review was a glowing, no doubt about it, buy this pencil now type of review. Well after 2 years of literal daily use it still looks new (check the pic, i put an updated one out there). Along with my AIN Stein 4B (Mmmmm Dark and soft...) lead, this pencil has been amazingly consistent. It's never had a lead jam. The tip is still straight (I have been extremely careful too.) There is nothing negative that I could say about this pencil. Multiple Pentel Graphgears, Kuru Toga's and even an Alvin Draftmatic all tried their best to unseat King Rotring. All failed. There are very few sure things in this world. But I know what to expect when I pick up the 600.... [original review] Finally got my Rotring 600 0.5mm. With all the problems that I’ve read about with the Rotring 800+, it seems that the 600 is the way to go. Before the Rotring arrived, the Pentel Graph Gear 1000 was my current favorite pencil that I own. On its arrival, the Rotring delegated it to 2nd place before I could even get the pencil completely out of its box (excellent packaging, is just one of many "little things" this product gets right) .It is everything that I hoped it would be. The Black Rotring 600 is easily to coolest looking mech pencil out there. It has an ominous Darth Vader-y feeling to it. To say it’s solidly built is an understatement. Quality German industrial design and construction. You think it looks good though, its performance is even better. The balance is PERFECT for my writing style. It feels so much better than anything else that I have tried before. No wobble at all in the tip. A nice crisp, audible click for lead extension. Signs of good craftsmanship are noted sometimes by the little, almost unnoticed aspects of design. Like the 600’s lead grade indicator. It would be fine if this were just a part of the pencil that indicated the type of lead inside the pencil. But the Rotring takes it a step further making this portion of the pencil knurled metal (same as the grip employs) and tops it like a cherry with its iconic red ring "logo". So yes, it's a lead grade indicator... A lead grade indicator WITH STYLE! Is this a requirement? Certainly not, but it’s these little touches that make me appreciate the thought and care that went into this pencils design. I’m not going to get into a bulleted list of pro's and con's, simply because there are no cons. I can't find one thing negative about this product. I love the reviews that say "the non-retractable tip is fragile" and then proceed to ding it a star. I'm sorry, but it's obvious that this is a finely engineered product, a certain amount of care is required. Because you are careless enough to drop it is not Rotrings fault. Take proper care, and your tip won't get bent. Simple. (Of course, I have now jinxed myself so that by the end of the day, I’m fairly certain that I will have dropped mine by days end). In such cases, it’s comforting to know you can get a replacement tip for around 11 bucks. Other people say, "The eraser is crappy". Guess what Skippy, every eraser in every mechanical pencil sucks. EVERY one. If you use a mechanical pencil without having a dedicated eraser at the ready (my personal fav is the Uniball Boxy, it's also very Darth Vader-y) you won't using mechanical pencils for much longer. It's just something that you have to do when using a mechanical pencil. Bottom line. While the Rotring 600 0.5mm is a very expensive pencil. It's worth every penny in my opinion. I can't say it any better than the Amazon product description does: "An iconic tool, meant for a lifetime of use." Now I need to grab the silver one so I have a pair right??....