Pentel Hybrid Gel Roller

I bought this hybrid gel roller out of curiosity - how do you combine the feeling of a roller with the gel ink? How would it work? I normally love Pentel pens, and it had a funky, futuristic look about it, and the price wasn't bad (about $3 for 2) so I bit.

I have to say, I'm less than impressed, especially since Pentel normally does such great pens. I'm writing in my journal with it, and the paper is rather smooth, not very pourus and scratchy, and the pen makes this dreadful "fingernails going down a blackboard" sound every twentieth word or so. It depends as well on how I hold the pen - if I hold it mostly straight up and down, something about the weight of it doesn't make the scratcy noise. During those times, I quite love the pen and all is right and blissful in the world. But then I get lazy, relax my wrist, and suddenly the screaching noise happens again. It wakes my neighbors. No, not really. Honestly, it's not a horrible noise, but it is cutting, and additionally, then pen kind of gets "stuck" for just a second as that noise is happening, so I can only assume it's something up with the roller bit.

The one redeeming quality for me right now - though it's not really a redeeming quality in general - is that the ink goes really quickly. I hate throwing out a pen I've not finished - it leaves me feeling really incomplete - and I'd be hitting myself if this pen was going to have to be with me for months. As it is, I only started it on Wednesday, today is Friday, and it's well over halfway through. Just on 5 pages a day. So I'm assuming it will be finished by Sunday and I can start out the week with something nice and new.

So, in sum, this pen will do you well if you write with the pen at a straight 90 degree angle. If you have anything less than that, wear earplugs. Note that this image came from the Pentel website at www.Pentel.com