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Hello guys! Hope all of you are doing super well. I haven't experienced a hell lot of fountain pens but I do have a few nice vintage ones that work pretty well. I'm a very light handed writer. I don't apply pressure on the nib when writing and many times some of my pens don't start unless I apply pressure, which I find super annoying. Since I dont apply pressure, I do appreciate a mildly heavy pen. Does anybody know a well weighted pen that has a super flowy nib that just writes perfectly under the pens weight? I'm looking for pens that aren't too expensive. Maybe upto 40$ I like M or F nibs. Just incase you might be interested. Thanks a lot!

Hi, I've observed when writing with a pen that has a 'glossy' nib (compare it to skating on ice) across parts of the paper that has natural skin/hand oils (from either the writing hand moving top down the page or from the other hand steadying the page) that the nib tends to skip across the 'greasy' areas. Whereas when writing with a 'matte' nib (compare it to writing with a smooth pencil) these 'greasy' areas are not a problem, the nib just writes across it; although you can feel the 'slick'. Given the two nibs do not have 'baby's bottom'; my theory is that the matte surface area of the nib breaks the inks surface tension (because it has microscopic pits and grooves) thus helping the ink to spread and run. Before I take remedial action on my 'glossy' nib using very fine abrasive; what are your experiences with the above ? Would you accept it and just change your ink to a better behaved variety or would you just go ahead and rub the shine off the tip ? Or is there something else going one that I'm not aware of ? Thanks, Fabian

IntroI have lately been looking to add a few low cost everyday pens to my collection so when I saw the UK high street and online retailer "The Pen Shop" had launched a new range of low cost fountain pens I jumped at the opportunity to add something new to my collection. The new youth orientated pens are under the Brand Dex as a division of their existing Kingsley own brand pens. I’m not really sure what to think of the name Dex as a pen brand, but hey, I may be too old to appreciate it’s name appeal, perhaps they were trying to associate the name with the once popular 90's Dexter’s Laboratory cartoon. The range consist of two different pen styles, both in ink roller and fountain pen variants in various finishes (see here) they do appear to have done a good job with a number eye catching designs.I ended up going for the Compact pen in blue as it caught my eye in the store. Here are my thoughts after two weeks of use. Design Materials and aesthetics 7/10The pen has a modern, distinctive design with chrome accent opaque body and an ink window with a contoured rubber grip section. The pen is a little on the light side as all the components bar the clip and nib are made of plastic. Overall an interesting, unique design. Construction Quality 6/10 The quality of the materials used in the pen are reasonable at the price point, however the plastics do feel low cost and the pen overall feels relatively cheap. Ergonomics 6/10 For a compact fountain pen the ergonomics are quite good and the pen fits fine into smaller hands unposted however, it probably will be too short for larger hands unposted. However, if the pen is posted it becomes a similar size to a posted Safari. The grip section of the pen is fairly comfortable, however, I do think the positioning of the finger placements recesses are a little strange as they seem to be placed too widely apart for a comfortable grip. Nib performance 8/10 I was pleasantly surprised with the nib having only paid about £13 for the pen I wasn't expecting much from its “iridium point” nib. However, I found the nib to be one of the highlights of the pen as it delivers a firm, smooth, Medium line with a little bit of reassuring feedback. The nib isn't quite as smooth as my Parker Frontier nib however the nib is excellent for a sub £15 pen. Filling Mechanism, 6/10 The pen is a compact pen so is relegated to using only small international cartridges out of the box. However, I have successfully managed to convert mine into an eye-dropper pen with a touch of petroleum Jelly which has meant the ink capacity has been effectively tripled to approximately 3ml. The ink window is especially useful when the pen has been converted as it allows for a clear indication of the remaining ink. Cost and Value 7/10 Bought for £13 The pen isn't bad value, however it does feel a little on the cheap side and perhaps a price of just under the £10 may have been a bit more reasonable price. Final Thoughts Overall score 40/60 The Good Smooth nib.Compact Design.Can be converted to an eye dropper. The Bad Feels a little on the cheap side.Cartridge only out of the box.