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While tastes vary and one's overall writing experience can differ due to a number of variables, some pens are just extremely polarizing. When I started reading reviews about this particular pen, it seemed like there was no middle ground, people either loathed it or loved it, and the only thing people could agree on was that the customer service was good, because so many things had to be replaced due to cracking (everywhere, all the time, or so it seemed) or line feed issues that stopped ink dead in its tracks, like there was some sort of cloaked coagulant that was purposely bred into the materials that made up the construction of the pen. I am of course referring to the TWSBI Diamond series of pens. I thought the pen was a good value and it struck me one day that given the pen was ABLE to be dismantled (NOT required), one had to at least CONSIDER the possibility that there could be a number of variables that contributed to these cracking issues. Three things happened in one day that made me say the equivalent of damn the torpedos, I'm buying this pen. 1) The reviews started to improve 2) They came out with the AL version 3) I noticed ONE person on every forum, page, or blog, really had an ax to grind about this pen (including one person on THIS very forum). Ironically, it was obvious the gripes weren't about the pen at this point. Anyhoo.........I ordered my TWSBI Diamond 580 AL, filled it upon receiving it, and it has not cracked, showed even a hint of flow-related ink issues, and for the money, it's a damn good writer and smoother than I anticipated. Moreover, this pen motivated me to start writing more often, which I thoroughly enjoyed, in spite of the deterioration of my hand-writing. It was like waking up from a long nap and realizing my right fist was just short of a club. I would say that in the two weeks after receiving my pen, I had another pen, thanks to a PIF, and bought my first used FP. Moreover, what started out as buying one pen for one task, turned into an almost devout refusal to write with anything BUT a FP. Late last week, my Pilot Falcon arrived, tuned by JM, and was I ever floored. All this due to the little pen that could, from Taiwan. I would be remiss if I didn't mention my wife was from Taiwan and that country has been very good to me, and continues to do so, as evidenced by the consistent pleasure-inducing experience of the TWSBI 580 AL. SUCK IT, HATERS!!!!!!