I had no idea about the anti-fraud thing. That’s really cool – and I’ll be giving one to my husband for writing checks

Marte – Thats awesome, glad that you found the information in the post to be helpful, can never be too safe, especially not if it means spending an extra $2 on a pen.

That’s true! And since I already have 5 of them, it’s nice to know they’ll be put to good use :p

…I do wonder, though: Why are checks still in use? When I came here from Norway 5 years ago, I was, to put it mildly, VERY surprised. Because back there, only a few, old people who refused to change, used checks, and most stores barely even knew how to handle them.
I can only think of one good reason, and that’d be that I could have them custom designed

Your reviews are always very informative btw, I learn something new from every single one.

Marte – I totally agree with you on checks, not sure why we still use them, they are a pain and not very secure.

Hope I can continue to be informative for you…feedback is always welcome, good or bad.

I don’t know if I got a bad batch of these pens, but I have never understood the cult of the 207. I thought they were patchy and spotty and the colors were faint or fluorescent instead of saturated. Oh well, my coworkers were happy to get my cast-offs!

notaclevername: It seems to me like the ink performance depends on the color. I ordered 5 pens (purple, orange, light blue, pink and green), and only the purple and orange pens had nice, saturated inks. All the others were fluorescent or pale, and spotty to write with as well.

Are there any 207s with smaller tips, say like 0.5mm?

T – Try this link:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=uniball+signo+207+.5mm&x=0&y=0

The Uniball Signo is by far the best pen I’ve ever used- I’m a pen junkie- smooth ink flow, good grip, very comfortable, reasonably priced. I specially like the Micro, maybe because I have very small handwriting. I’ve recommended and given away boxes of this pen and everybody agrees it’s the best. I wish the Micro was easier to get in boxes, so far I’ve only found it online.

yes, there is a Micro version, sold in packages of two, anywhere.

It’s difficult to articulate exactly why it is I love the 207.

It may be that I ordered a box of 207s my first day at my new job at an investment bank and, without evangelizing the product much, converted my entire floor from blue Bic ballpoint ubiquity.

A glorious time, that was.

@Michael E. Gruen – They are a pretty addictive pen. They are simple, comfortable to write with, and have such a bold bright line. I know that feeling though when you get someone hooked on something that you like so much.

Hate to say rip-off but this pen has a blocked ink resevoir that limits the quantity of ink to not-too-dang-much. In fact, these pens are a waste of money. Better choices but if you MUST own one, open the package, unscrew the pen, and look for yourself. You won’t be impressed.

@noyb – I always welcome other opinions, but Im surprised, I think that this pen has a pretty steady and somewhat heavy ink flow.

I bought this pen the other day and it smudges uncontrollably.
I let the writing dry for a ridiculous and considerable amount of time but it still smudges.
And yes, I have tried it on all types of paper that are available to me.
I don’t know if I have a dud, but this is ridiculous.
Does anyone else have this problem?

@Luis – Can I ask what kind of paper you tried it on, and about how long you waited? I can give it a try with similar parameters to see if I get similar results.

@Awesome Blogger
Thanks for responding.
I use this pen on paper I use the most, me being a student, Five Star Lined Paper.
I don’t have the paper or label with me now but it’s by Mead and it’s reinforced.
Wait I found it:
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_05057553000P?vName=Computers%20&%20Electronics&cName=OfficeProducts&sName=Paper%20&%20Printable%20Media&psid=FROOGLE01&sid=IDx20070921x00003a.
It’s honestly the best notebook paper I have used for school and it performs amazingly with any other pen I use.
I have honestly let the ink dry for more than 10 seconds.
Thanks for the attention.

@Luis – thanks. I’m going to work on something tomorrow, and I’ll have it posted Wed. morning.

@Luis – Got a new post up now for you, I hope it is at least somewhat helpful

http://officesupplygeek.com/pen-review/gel-pens/uniball-signo-207-ink-drying-test/

I bought a three pack four months ago from Target. I think they’re great pens but then they started acting weird.
After using this pen for several months, the ink in this pen has started acting strange. With the black one, which I used most often, the ink flowed strong and heavy at first but stopped flowing completely after two months of usage. A month after it stopped working, I picked it up again and it started working but the ink started flowing weaker. The blue and red pens that I used only occasionally were strong at first but had weaker ink flow after several months. If I write really, slow, the ink looks dark like in your pictures, but when I write at a normal speed, the ink starts looking really faded. Do you know what could be wrong with my pens?

@Louis – That is some really strange behavior from these pens. Ive never really had any issues like that, and I’ve been using mine for a while now. Did you consider contacting Uniball directly to see if they could help?

I haven’t considered contacting Uniball, but I guess I’ll do that soon when I have the time.

Sorry to be commenting on an older article but I found it very helpful. I thought to look it up as I am currently using a black Signo 207 at work for taking notes (which I do quite frequently.) I agree with you about how smoothly the pen writes. It’s a strong contender for my favorite gel pen. It’s currently in competition with the Zebra Sarasa .7mm pens which I just love. I am fortunate that my company purchases pens such as these for our supply cabinets (in addition to the stick pens that are favored by the luddites who don’t appreciate quality writing tools.) Thanks again and love the site.

The red Signo 207 is the best red I have ever seen. Most other reds look orange by comparison.

@Gatton – Please feel free to comment on any post, always happy to hear the thoughts of others. You are lucky that you get to have your office pick up the cost on some nice pens! I agree that the Zebra Sarasa is also a worthy competitor to these 207s, thanks for stopping by, and I am glad you are enjoying the site.

@Craig – Its true, all of the colors in the 207s are pretty vibrant, and the red is no exception.

I have used the Uni-ball Signo 207 pens for years………Love them…….so smooth and even tho a gel doesnt smear……. Go you know if they have refills. I am in the medical profession and go thru them pretty quickly……….
thanks,
Pamela

Office Supply Geek, 
Great site and excellent review of the 207. I just wanted to post an experience i had with the pen.
I’ve been a huge fan of the Uni-Ball Signo 207 for a long time now. However, every once in a while, I’ll get a pen that writes great for a few days or weeks and then, blah! It stops writing well or not at all, even though I can see there is still plenty of ink.This morning, I came across one such pen. In hindsight, I remembered I left the pen in my truck from the time I got off work yesterday until this morning. When I got off work, it was still 93 degrees at 4:00pm. The heat in the truck must have caused the ink to dry and crust up around the roller ball. I decided to search the internet to see if others had similar experiences and to see if anyone had found a fix for this problem. I found enough people giving this pen not so positive reviews because either it came out of the package and wouldn’t write well, or like me, it would eventually stop writing.I wasn’t, however, able to find a fix. So, I decided to try and fix the pen on my own. I poured a few drops of isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol on a hard surface and rolled the point of the pen around in it for about 10 seconds. I then began drawing circles on a piece of paper. The circles started off faint and broken in spots, but then I’d roll the pen in the alcohol some more. The circles started becoming bolder and more complete. I repeated these two steps 4 or 5 times until the pen was as good as new. The isopropyl alcohol effectively cleaned the crusted ink from the roller and made my pen operable again. I then decided to see if this would work on a pen I had stashed in my desk drawer about a year ago because it stopped working.The results were not the same. I believe the amount of time that passed allowed the roller ball to become so stuck that it will not roll properly and thus cannot gather ink. In the trash it went. Update: About 30 minutes went by, and I pulled the pen out of the trash (I enjoy them this much) to see if I can clean it better with a different product. I sprayed some Aero Kroil (similar to WD-40) on a paper towel and rubbed the tip of the pen around it for 10-15 seconds, and to my surprise, the pen now writes.It isn’t like new, but it’s usable again. Instead if the nice bold black line that it normally produces, it is a tad bit fainter. It’ll suffice to be used as a once in a while type pen. Thanks again for the great site Office Supply Geek! 

 I thought with the 207 I’d finally found the perfect pen.  I ordered several boxes from an eBay seller in a frosty green color body, black ink.  They’ve been great and I leave them everywhere so I’ll always be able to find something reliable to write with. 

Twice now I’ve gone to write something on a yellow legal pad and the ink flow was faint and irregular . . . just like all the crap pens I’ve tried over the years. 

I will try the alcohol trick and see if that works.  If not, I’ll try a solvent like Goof Off – that will dissolve anything.  I wouldn’t think WD-40 would be effective since it is an oil-based product and oil and ball points don’t usually go together well. 

Thanks for the suggestions.  I’ll try it tomorrow. 

Mike