Archive for Uniball Pens
Office Supplies to Prevent Identity Theft and Fraud
Posted by: | CommentsLong post today, it covers Uniball pens, Paper Shredders, Privacy Screens, and a bunch of online resources. Just my spin on how to use office supplies to keep your personal info protected.
I’m sure that many of you have already seen the above Uniball commercial that explains some of the benefits of their pens in preventing identity theft and fraud, and I know that there have been some other good posts on other pen review sites about these pens and the topic already, so I hope to add a little something different with my review here today. When the PR folks from Uniball contacted me to offer me some of these pens to review, I wanted to try and make sure I not only provided the info on their pens in particular but also provide a bit more comprehensive view on preventing fraud and identity theft when it comes to other office supplies as well. What I plan on doing with this post is the following:
- Share my pictures of attempted check washing by comparing a Uniball pen and a “giveaway” type ballpoint pen.
- Show some other office supplies that can help you reduce the likelihood of being a victim of fraud or identity theft.
- Provide some resources for educating yourself on identity theft and reducing the chances of it happening to you.
Hopefully these photos and tips can help someone avoid the hassle and financial impact of being a victim of identity theft by making a few inexpensive and simple changes to their day to day activities.
Uniball and Check Washing:
Top check written with a Uniball Vision Elite. Bottom check written with a cheap giveaway ballpoint pen.
Exclusive Review: Uniball Signo Gel Pen & Mechanical Pencil in One
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The all new Uniball Signo MF2 Gel Pen and Mechanical Pencil. Both writing points are a .5mm tip.
The good people over at Uniball have shown their generosity and let me get my hands on their new and yet unreleased Signo MF2 Gel Pen and Mechanical Pencil. Specific thanks go to @Uniball_Pen_Gal on Twitter. She works for the Uni-ball brand, and was the one responsible for sending this new pen over to me. When I started this blog I really just thought it would be a good excuse for me to buy some more office supplies to play with, and I could justify the purchases because I was going to write about them on my blog, never did I think Id get to try out all these new products like the Stainless Steel Sharpie, the Post-it Flag+ Gel Pens, and now this. I also owe a special thanks to all of my readers, because if not for you, then obviously the folks making these products would have nothing to gain by giving me so many free products to review and write about. A new giveaway will be coming up soon to officially thank all of you. Read More→
OfficeSupplyGeek Giveaway – Free Office Supplies
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I’ve decided that because my readers are so great, and have left so many comments, that it is time for another giveaway of some of the great office supplies that I have reviewed in the last few weeks. Personally, I dont know what could be better than winning some free office supplies in a giveaway, so I hope you all enjoy it. I wanted to make this one even better than the last, so I thought Id make it a little more competitive. I’m going to have two winners of office supplies this time, and the first winner to contact me gets their first pick of the items listed below, second winner to contact me gets their choice of whats left that the other winner didnt pick. Here is a list of the office supplies (click on the links to read the original review) that I am offering up, and the rules are below:
- Staples Brand Soft Grip Binder Clips (pick any 6 colors)
- Uni-Ball Vision Needle Micro
- Post-it Flag+ Permanent Marker
- Uni-ball Alpha Gel HD Ballpoint Pen – 0.7 mm – Green Grip
- Pentel Slicci .7mm black, green and purple (pick any 2 colors)
- Uniball Signo 207 .7mm black, blue, red, and orange (pick any 2 colors)
- Pilot Hello Kitty Cap Limited Edition Hi-Tec-C Gel Ink Pen – 0.4 mm – Clear Blue
- Paper Mate Liquid Flair Pen (pick any 2 colors)
- Pilot Razor Point (pick any 2 colors)
- Six Levenger Page Points
- Uniball Signo DX .38 Light Blue
- Doane Paper Note Book 48 pages 3.5″ x 5.5″
Here is what you need to do to win:
- Leave a comment on this thread by 11:59 PM on Sunday, March 15th, one comment per person
- Check back here on the morning of Monday, March 16th when I will post the 2 winners of this giveaway
- Leave a comment on the post announcing the winner, and tell me which of the above bullet points you are claiming as your prize
- Contact me via email using this form with your mailing address where your prize should be sent (only if you are one of the 2 winners)
Uni-ball Alpha Gel HD Ballpoint Pen – 0.7 mm – Green Grip
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Woody hiding the unique feature of the Uni-ball alpha gel HD ballpoint pen.
I actually forgot for a while that I even had this Uni-ball alpha gel HD ballpoint .7mm pen until I was straightening out my desk a bit last night and I came across it again. I had initially purchased it from JetPens.com a few months ago and used it for a little bit before writing this review. For the most part, I don’t usually buy ballpoint pens to use unless there is something particularly unique about them, and this pen fits that criteria because of the extra “squishy” grip that it has. If you check out JetPens.com you can find this pen there for $9.00 and it comes in 7 different grip colors including Black, Blue, Green, Orange, Pink, Rose Pink, and Royal Blue. There are also multiple other versions of Uni-ball Alpha Gel pens that JetPens has available on their site. Read More→
Uni-Ball Vision Needle Micro
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Woody shows off the Uniball Vision Needle Micro that was so kindly given to me by the friendly folks at Uni-Ball for a review.
The Uni-Ball Vision Needle Micro in this review was given to me by Uni-Ball themselves, specifically by Steve aka Uniball_USA on Twitter who also provided some great feedback for this review on a Uni-Ball Jetstream. This is just another example of what I was talking about in this post when I said that Twitter was a great way to keep connected to the world of office supplies. The folks there are a great resource for all kinds of information, and I suggest you check it out if you have not already done so, and also think about following the users in that post I pointed out back there.
Uni-Ball Vision writing sample on Doane Paper
When I first tried out this pen, I was a little nervous because in the first 3 or 4 seconds of writing I got a strange feeling, almost as if there was a grain of sand in the tip. It kind of scratched and didnt start writing as I was used to with every other UniBall pen, fortunately that stopped pretty quickly and the pen has not skipped a beat since then. I’ve tried the pen on my Doane Paper and on my Levenger paper, and it really writes very nicely on both. The writing sample in this review shows the Doane Paper.
I did have some concern in thinking that a pen with “Needle Micro” in the name might be too fine and delicate for every day use, but this pen proved me wrong, as I felt no hesitation in writing in my normal writing style.
The Uni-Ball Vision Needle in Action.
You can see in this picture here the cap is a little different, it has a transparent blue insert towards the top of the clip in the center of it. It almost has kind of a jeweled look to it, but in a nice non tacky way. The body of the pen also feels a bit more narrow than most pens, but still a comfortable size for writing with.
The one thing on this pen that I wish was different is the grip area, and the fact that the grip area actually lacks any kind of grip or traction to it. After writing for a bit with it, you do notice yourself (at least my sweaty fingers did) gripping a bit harder on the smooth plastic surface to make sure you have a good hold of the pen.
Other than my specific issue with the grip, I think this is a very nice pen that will write well for you and probably hold up for some time too, as it seems to have the same quality construction of all the other Uni-Ball pens I’ve used. A big thanks goes to Steve at Uni-Ball for sharing this pen with me, and it will be included as an option in my next give away.
Uniball Signo DX .38 Review
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Uniball Signo DX .38 and Woody
I’ve seen quite a bit of praise regarding the Uniball Signo line of pens, particularly from everyone’s favorite pen reviewer, dowdyism at The Pen Addict so the last time I ordered from JetPens I decided to pick one up…among other things. That deal they have for free shipping on orders over $25 always results in me spending more than I had intended. 
I also wanted to use this post to introduce you to the newest addition to the OfficeSupplyGeek team, his name is Woody and as you can see from the picture above, he really wasted no time in lending a helping hand to his first assignment here.
Anyway, on to the pen review. With all of the great reviews of this pen out there, I was curious to see what everyone was so excited about. I enjoy using the finer tipped pens such as this one, but am usually hesitant about them being too small to be practical. Thankfully this was not the case with the Signo DX. My main concern with the smaller tipped pens like this is that if I am writing quickly, I will either rip the paper, or I will write too fast to let the ink run smoothly out of the pen without skipping on the page. In order to test this, I tried taking some notes at work during a phone conversation I had with someone because that is when I tend to write the fastest. I was happily surprised at how smooth the pen wrote and that it did not incur any of the problems I was anticipating.
In the following writing sample of the Uniball Signo DX you can get an idea of how smooth the ink flows from this pen, even with a light color it lays down a solid line of ink with no white gaps which is very impressive for such a small tip. The sample you see below was written in a Rhodia notepad, which I always find to be a notebook that is easy to write in with paper that works well with most pens. When I tried this pen with my Moleskine, which is really not a favorite of mine, I was surprised to see that the pen even wrote well in that. Overall I would say this is a great pen if you like the smaller tip, and I might have to go back and pick up some additional colors because there are so many options to choose from.
Woody Jots Some Notes in with a Uniball Signo DX in a Rhodia Notebook
If I had to pick one thing about this pen that I dont like, it has to do with the style. I was a little disappointed when I realized that the UPC code and other markings on the barrel were actually painted on, and not a clear sticker which is usually the case. Clearly this has no effect on the ability to use this pen, however I just really think it takes away from the clean smooth look of the pen. I have no issue with a model name or number, but I could do without the big UPC and “Recap after use” instructions on the barrel…kind of cheapens the look of an otherwise really nice pen. You can see this in the photo of the Uniball Signo DX .38 below.
Uniball Signo DX with UPC and Other Markings
A Uniball Pens Action Figure? You can make it happen.
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Uni-Super-Ink Robot!
So Uniball has a new ad campaign and they are using this really cool looking robot (They appear to be calling him “Uni-Super-Ink Robot) in some of the spots and also on their website. I am taking it up as my official duty to start a petition for Uniball to make and sell a “Uni-Super-Ink Robot” Action Figure. You can see him in the video below.
If you are honestly interested in Uniball making an action figure of this (ie. you are a huge geek like myself) then just vote over there to the right in the “Polls” section and lets see if we can get Uniball to cave in and decide to actually make them. I’ve already asked one person from Uniball when we could buy one and the response was “soon I hope” so all I ask is that you do 2 things:
1. Vote in the poll over there. —–>
2. Use the “share this” link below to share this post on any of the major social networks, but I have already submitted to digg, and reddit, so you can just click on those links to make it a little easier.
It probably also would not hurt to leave a comment on this post to show even more support.
I will be making the Uniball person aware of this post, so do your best to show your support for Uniball and Uni-Super-Ink Robot by voting and sharing with others who would be interested.
**for the record I have absolutely no affiliation with Uniball and am doing this on my own with no support, direction, or request from them.
Also, later this week I will be posting a new review of a Uniball pen, so I hope to see you back.
[poll id="2"]
Levenger Junior Size Circa Bomber Jacket Notebook – 2009 Planner
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Levenger Junior Size Circa Bomber Jacket Notebook
My previous post detailed the Levenger Circa 2009 Daily Planner Refills that I am using to improve my organizational skills this year. Today I wanted to focus on the actual leather portfolio that I am keeping those calendar pages in, or as Levenger calls it, the Junior Size Circa Bomber Jacket Notebook.
The junior size notebooks from Levenger measure 6 1/2″W x 1/2″D x 8 3/4″H. The measurement depends on the size rings that you decide to use with it, but the dimensions used here assume the standard 1/2″ discs that all Levenger notebooks come standard with. Other than the actual size of the notebook, the junior size has the same features and accessories that can be found with the letter size version which I did a two part post on here and here. The only real difference is the inside front cover, where the pocket sizes are smaller than the ones found in the letter size notebook. The following picture shows the inside pocket with a standard credit card or gift card placed inside so you can get an idea of how big it is. Obviously you will find that the larger pocket on this notebook is just shy of being 8 3/4″ high, since that is the height of the notebook itself. Read More→
Uni-ball Power Tank Ballpoint Pen – Pt. 3
Posted by: | CommentsWe have reached the final post in this 3 part series…and the results might be a bit surprising. I managed to successfully freeze all of the pens in a test tube and get some more writing samples from each of them. I also did a quick test to see how each of these pens write on wet paper. One thing I realize that I did not do is compare another ballpoint pen to the Power Tank, I might have to try that at a later date. Now on to the results.
DISCLAMER:I am not a real scientist, so I am sure that any of you out there who actually are scientists could probably poke some holes in my experiment that would invalidate it. In this review, science is whatever I want it to be…but I think I got to fairly realistic results anyway.
The Wet Paper Test
I decided to do this test with standard notebook quality paper ripped from a 5 Star Notebook since I dont think that most folks would use their Levenger Circa or other notebook that they really care about out in the rain. You can see from the scan below that each of the pens held up relatively well. The Power Tank and G2 both had a little trouble getting started, however once they did, everything was fine. I think the Uniball Power Tank did get started quicker than the G2 based as you can see from the photo. The Pilot Varsity showed some feathering at first that appeared to stop after a few letters. I should note that I can’t isolate the trouble getting started or the bleed from the fact that these pens were just resuscitated from a state of cryogenic suspension.
Uni-ball Power Tank, Pilot G2, and Pilot Varsity on wet paper
Now for the freezer test results! Read More→
Uni-ball Power Tank Ballpoint Pen – Pt. 2
Posted by: | CommentsWell, I’ve got my experiment for part 2 set up, so I thought Id post a quick update with some pictures too.
As I had mentioned previously, I mostly use the Power Tank to track my gas mileage, so I am often writing on gas receipts leaning against my steering wheel or some other non flat surface that requires the pen to be on an angle. In addition to regular pens not working so well when writing on an angle, I also end up having trouble with regular pens during the winter as the pen sits in the car over night in the freezing cold. Before I got the Uniball Power Tank, I would end up having to scribble frantically or I would need to shake the pen really hard just to get some ink out of it. The Power Tank pen really seems to hold up well to the cold weather, and also to writing in a non upright position. The following picture shows exactly what it looks like when writing with it in different conditions.
Freezing Weather Writing Sample - Uniball Power Tank
As you can see, it wrote fine in both upside down, and right side up positions while at a temperature of 32 degrees Fahrenheit. The only noticeable difference that I see is that in the “normal conditions” photo, the pen wrote slightly darker. For now I can confidently say that this pen seems to be perfect for my needs, I have yet to pick it up and not have a smooth line of ink immediately flow to the desired writing surface, but who knows if that will change once I conduct my experiment…here is a picture to give you an idea of what to expect.
Pens and Test Tubes before being put in the freezer...writing samples soon to follow.
If you cant tell from the picture, from left to right you have the standard Pilot G2 that everyone loves, The Uniball Power Tank, and a Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pen. All of them submerged in water filled test tubes with caps on them. I’m going to give it some time and wait for the pensicles to completely harden and then I will be back with the last part of this review.
Uni-ball Power Tank Ballpoint Pen – Pt. 1
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Uniball Power Tank Pen for Harsh Conditions
I don’t plan on making all of my review multiple parts, however I do have an experiment in mind that I want to try with this pen, so I think it requires a two part approach.
The Uni-ball Power Tank is designed to function in difficult situations such as wet surfaces, cold temperatures, and upside down. Jetpens.com offers this pen for $3.00 in multiple body colors (red, white, blue, light blue, and pink and they also offer red, blue, and black refills. Read More→
