Indulge Your Craving To Click!
Written: Apr 23 '03 (Updated Nov 09 '04)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Writes in blue, green, red or black in, refillable, inexpensive.
Cons: Not exactly the best ink, clicker tabs may wear out with excessive use.
The Bottom Line: Great for those that need to use different colored inks, this eliminates the need to carry four separate pens.
|
|
|
| Freak369's Full Review: BIC 4-Color Ballpoint Pen MMXP11 |
I am sure that everyone has seen one of these pens at some point in their lives but in the off chance that you haven't, you are in for a real treat! BIC took four of the most commonly used colors, blue, green red and black and combined them in to one pen. By using the sectional clickers at the top of the pen you can select the color that you wish to use and can switch between any of the four colors by pressing down on another color tab. I remember the very first time I saw and used one – it was the coolest thing at the time and since no one else in my school had one [a pen pal sent me one] I was popular for about a day and a half until everyone had a chance to click the hell out of it and get over the novelty.
How It Works
To select a color to write with press down on one of the four color tabs located at the end of the pen. To chance colors simply press down on another color. To retract the ballpoint tip when you are done using it just press upwards in the color selector to have the tip go back into the barrel. You can also slightly press on another one of the color tabs to release the tip and have it spring back into the body of the pen. Using the pen is extremely easy and eliminates the need to carry four different pens when at school, traveling or at work.
If I had to complain about one thing it would most definitely be the ink that is used for this pen. It isn’t as dark as the other BIC pens and doesn’t flow from the ballpoint tip as smoothly as it should. You may encounter a few skips or breaks in the ink when you are writing and it does get a little finicky with some type of paper. The barrel is pretty strong and will hold up to a lot of use, especially if it lands at the bottom of your purse or backpack. Since this is a little wider than standard ballpoint pens, it may take a little time to get used to the width. The clicker tabs are spring loaded so they retract quickly but they do wear out after a lot of use.
Refills
You can purchase the refills for this pen for about $2.00 at most office supply stores and places like Target and Wal-Mart. The refills are available in either the fine or medium point and replace all the ink sticks inside the pen at once. I’ve never purchased the refills because the clicker tabs often get stripped and the entire pen needs to be replaced since there aren’t any quick fixes for that situation. Most of the time the boys are the culprits in stripping the color selector since they will sit there clicking them when they are writing a paper or trying to solve a word problem. Since the pens are about the same price as the refills its no big deal to me.
Things To Know
The barrel of the pen comes in either blue or orange however you might seem them in purple, pink or even silver. At first I never knew that there was a difference between the orange and blue barrels but after reading over the packages closely I found out that the blue one is the medium line and the orange one a fine line. Chances are the other colored pens aren’t really BIC items but cheap knock-offs that are used as promotions with company’s names printed on the sides. They are pretty close to the BIC design however the clicker sections are shaped differently and the barrel is a little thinner. Beware of the cheaper versions since these have a tendency to leak [yes, I know this fro first hand experience] and the ink is, well, pretty bad.
This pen doesn’t come with a rubber comfort grip so you might want to check out some of the inexpensive slip on grips that can be purchased at any office supply store for about one dollar. They are easily removed if need be and help to reduce hand cramps and wrist aches when taking notes or doing a lot of writing. If only BIC would update this pen to feature a comfort grip [and do something about the ink] it would be one awesome pen.
The Bottom Line
I don’t use these as much as my boys do simply because I don’t care for the type of ink that the pen uses. I like a thick dark ink and, simply put, this pen doesn’t have it. The boys fell in love with these and love to take them with them on their field trips and day camps. It is an all purpose type pen that can eliminate the need for four different colors or when you want to highlight something when you are taking notes. It’s also convenient to carry this as a spare pen in case one of your usual favorites pens runs out of ink. Since there are four colors to choose from you are almost always guaranteed to have something to write with – even if it isn’t the best ink or perfect color. For around $2.00 this is a great thing for a school aged child to have in his or her backpack, to keep in the glove compartment of your vehicle or to carry in your purse or knapsack.
As always, thanks for the visit!
^V^ Freak ^V^
© 2003 Freak369
Related reviews …
• Bic Round Stic Grip Pens - Black • Pentel R.S.V.P. • Pilot Easy Touch Ballpoint Pen • Papermate X-Tend Ballpoint Pen • Liquid Expresso Porous Point Pen • Bic WideBody Ballpoint Pen • Pilot Varsity Disposable Fountain Pen • Pentel EnerGel Liquid Gel Roller • Bic Z4 Roller Ball Pen Fine Point • Pilot G2 Retractable Gel Ink Rollerball • Pilot V Ball Rollerball Pen • Papermate Fingermate • Cross Ion – Aurora Blue • Pilot P500 Gel Ink Rolling Ball Pen • Bic Cristal Grip Stic Pen • Stabilo Sensor Cushion Tip Pen Fine Point - Lilac • Papermate Pendulum • Bic 4 Color Clicker Ballpoint Pen • BIC Round Stic Pens - Blue • Zebra F-301 Retractable Ballpoint Pen • Sanford Gel Impact Roller Ball Pen Violet Ink Bold Point •
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.