The Bottom Line: Looking for a comfortable pen to write with? The Bic Atlantis has smooth ink flow, oversized rubber comfort grip area and retractable tip. What more could you ask for?
Freak369's Full Review: Bic Atlantis Retractable Ballpoint Pen Medium Poin...
Sorry about the title but I had to have a ‘pen pun’ for this one. I’ve tried four colors in the Atlantis line of pens from Bic and out of those four, the black one is by far my favorite. That’s not to say that the green, blue and red ones aren’t nice to write with but I’m a ‘black ink girl’ most of the time. So what sets this pen apart from others? First off the barrel design is really nice, it is almost impossible to grab this and not know what color ink is inside it. The downside is that the ink cartridges are solid so you can’t see how much ink is left in it. I am assuming that this is done to give the barrel some color since most of it is clear. When I first started writing with these I didn’t like the clicker portion of the pen, it seemed a bit weak like the spring was too small or didn’t have enough ‘pop’ to it. These aren’t something that you are going to want to buy and leave on your desk or have out in the open for the public to use because they will disappear. They do cost a little more than your average stick type pen but if you do a lot of writing they are well worth the extra money.
Bic Atlantis Retractable Ball Point Pen Medium Point Black Ink
I have no idea why Bic went with ‘Atlantis’ as their pitch for this. It doesn’t write under water, it has nothing to do with the lost city of Atlantis and doesn’t have cute little waves on it. Barring the slightly confusing name of this pen line, it is a nice thing to write with especially if you are taking notes. The plastic pocket clip on the top of it is strong and resists snapping; this isn’t something that usually impresses me to the point that I feel the need to mention it in a review but in the case of this one, it’s worth the extra keystrokes. For what ever reason the barrel can be unscrewed, this would lead me to think that Bic makes or were planning on making some type of refill cartridge for these but I haven’t seen them anywhere on the East Coast. I suppose that if you found refills that were the same size as these you could slip them into the chamber but chances are when you are done with the ink in this pen you will want to grab another one because the rubber comfort grip does tend to get rather funky after a while.
So now that I’ve gone and opened that can of worms I might as well expand on it. The rubber grip on this is oversized so no matter how you hold your pen you are going to have a smooth write. The downside is that the rubber attracts dirt and dust like crazy. If you use erasers of any type and aren’t a fanatic about getting rid of the grit that they leave behind, it will end up on the rubber area of this pen. You can wipe if off but if you are out of the house or can’t wet a paper towel, it does get annoying. On the up side because it is almost two inches long [an inch and three quarters to be exact] so no matter how you hold your pen or write, your fingers are going to be resting on it so you will be able to write in comfort. It’s not that soft squishy rubber, it is on the firm side but it does keep you from getting those annoying dents in your fingers. As a whole the pen is well made and won’t fall apart on you, if it gets stepped on it won’t crack or break.
The ink has good flow to it and rarely do you end up with clumps on the top. I prefer the black ink in this series to the others for general writing but I do have to admit that the green one is nice to use when you want to add a little bit of color to things. It dries quickly so the possibility of smudging or smearing is greatly reduced. You can find these at places like Target and Wal-Mart in the school supply section as well as places like Office depot and Staples in the pen section. The average price for a two pack of these is about $1.49 but you can buy them by the box [a dozen of a single color] for about $6.99 to $7.99 depending on the store you are shopping at. As I said, these do cost a little bit more than other pens in this class but to me they are worth it if you are looking for a pen that is going to write well and allow you to do it in comfort.
The Bottom Line
Bic backs all of it’s products with a nice performance policy; if you aren’t satisfied with how it works just send it back to them and they will send you a replacement at no cost. To me these are a cut above the average stick pens; they have a retractable tip so there’s no cap to lose, the rubber grip area makes writing for extended periods of time a complete breeze and ink flows evenly. For those of you who love ‘quiet click’ pens, this is one that you will want to check out because you can hardly hear it when you press down on it. That might be part of the reason why I didn’t really care for this at first - when I click a pen I want to hear it so I know it’s locked in place. That might sound like a small trivial thing to complain about but that’s part of what it’s like being a pen junkies ... you pick up on small things like that.
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