Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Did you ever ask the question "why doesn't someone make a pen that looks like a fountain pen, but really isn't a fountain pen"? I surely never did, and doubt anyone else has done so, but Parker has answered the question anyway. Parker's answer is called the "Ingenuity 5th Technology Mode Pen," a moniker as weighty as the pen itself. Having received this pen from the Vine program, I had no idea what it might cost, but given its heft and pretension to serious "pen-ness," I had an idea it might well be a couple hundred - and so it appears to be at Parker's retail price. If, as I am, you are a fountain pen collector always on the lookout for a new and fascinating fountain pen to put in the shirt pocket rotation, you will not be interested in this one at all - because as I explain below, although it goes to some lengths to look like a fountain pen, this isn't a fountain pen at all! For those who are not serious about fountain pens but want a "serious" and expensive looking pen, or those who really enjoy using ceramic or roller or composition tipped pens, it can be somewhat recommended, although its weight and size may be off-putting to anyone who is used to carrying a roller ball or ballpoint pen around in a shirt or coat pocket every day. However, if you are among those who firmly believe that a writing instrument should be a cheap, disposable item, and take offense at the idea that anyone would spend more than a few bucks on a pen, no matter how finely made it may be, or whether it is a piston filled fountain pen or rollerball, modern or vintage, large production or limited edition, you no doubt made up your mind when you saw the price -- before you even scrolled down to look at this review. The design, workmanship and function of this particular offering will mean nothing to you one way or the other. I can save you a lot of time. If the price offends you, you have no need to read further; and the rest of us really will derive no benefit from hearing your opinion of folks who do think it makes sense to invest a couple of hundred dollars or more in a fine fountain pen - which this item, incidentally, is not. As for the pen, it is an unusually heavy writing instrument, one you are not too likely to clip in your pocket on a daily basis. It is reasonably well balanced, and without the cap posted, it is not at all uncomfortable in the hand. Right out of the box, it has a plastic, 'dummy refill' inside, which has a fine, pointed plastic tip that protrudes from a metal 'hood' that is fashioned in the form of a dummy fountain pen nib. The dummy refill also is fitted with what looks like the serrated comb feed of a fountain pen - for reasons I cannot fathom other than to go one step further with the ersatz fountain pen theme. It took me a moment to grasp that this was not a fountain pen at all, but a fine line, composition tip with a ballpoint/rollerball style refill. The real, ink-filled refill, with a working tip, is hidden in the bottom of the small presentation box in which the Ingenuity is packaged. I unscrewed the section and barrel of the pen, inserted the working refill, and was yet again amazed to discover this is indeed the intent and design - a fountain pen that isn't, a fountain pen nib and feed that isn't, with a tiny composition tip peeking out from under the pseudo-nib and pseudo-feed. I kept reading the scant instructions - which are really just pictorials for various Ingenuity models - thinking I must be missing something, that there must be a way to make this work as a fountain pen and fill it with a converter or a cartridge, if not from an inkwell. I could be totally off the mark, but the answer appears to be what you see is all there is - a fine composition tip ink refill, like any other ball, roller, ceramic/composition tip pen. Out of the box, it writes consistently and smoothly - but of course, without the feel, the flex or the character of the line created by a decent fountain pen nib. I can create a similar tip and a similar line with a nicely sharpened, good quality graphite pencil from any one of a number of reputable manufacturers, like Faber Castell or Rhodia, and do so when I am not in the mood to use one of my fountain pens. After a week or so, I have noticed the pen has begun to 'skip,' which is a bit of a concern. If that is all the use one can get out of a refill, then the cost of operation is a bit ridiculous. If the tip simply does not flow ink particularly well, that is also a concern. For all the pseudo-fountain pen frou frou, heft and finish -- not to mention the price -- it should at least function well as a felt tip pen! Allowing for the fact that others may appreciate composition tip pens more than I do, I give it two stars. However, I would not personally buy one for myself or as a gift. In my view, the marketing and design folks at Parker have not come up with a winner.