We just got our hands on a Corporate Express black ball point pen, which is based on the Staedtler Stick 430 series of ball pens. It is fairly standard in design with a clear plastic barrel (with a white logo) and a black lid and black end stopper to match the colour of the ink.
This pen does not write very well and is quite scratchy. The ink flow is too slow resulting in fairly faint writing, and frequently the flow stops altogether, requiring the user to scribble on a spare corner of paper to get it flowing again. It feels like most other disposable pens to hold, although it trails leading competitors like the Bic Cristal when it comes to both writing and reading the results.
One point where the Corporate Express effort does trump its rivals is in the design of its lid, which is pleasingly solid. The pen is well held in the lid and you could happily use the clip on the lid to hold the pen without worrying that the pen would fall out and get lost. The lid has the usual safety feature of a small hole to breath through in the event of the lid being swallowed.
All in all, a cheap and cheerful pen which performs its basic task adequately, but without setting the pulse racing.
6/10
Tags: ballpoint pen, biro, corporate express, staedtler
secopi 
December 3, 2009 at 19:24 |
My one comment to add would be that, of the many basic ball points available, this has a lid with a truly functional hook, which is fairly resistant to snapping, and can easily be clipped over a pad of paper, or one one’s shirt pocket.