Monday, March 26, 2012

Review: Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto 5 Color Multi Pen - Clear Pink

Brad (@dowdyism) at JetPens has generously sent a Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto 5 color multi pen in clear pink (plus refills!) for review. Many thanks to you Brad and JetPens!
IMG_2480 Resized
The Pilot Hi-Tec-C gel ink pens are quite popular and are known for their great micro tips, lovely ink,  and don't forget their range of colors! I myself have a good 50 Hi-Tec-Cs or so (I know...but some were being discontinued so I had to stock up on them) but I really wanted to try the Coleto. The reason for this is because I like "all-in-one" things. It's much easier to carry one pen with five different colors than five separate pens, right??  (This is the same reason I hate having to carry a BlackBerry AND an iPod Touch... why can't they just morph into one device of awesome? Anyway...I digress). So I really have a thing for multipens. The sad thing is, I only own one: the Bic 4-color in fashion colors. I know, it's not much of a multipen.
Coleto vs. Hi Tec C Resized
Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto 5 Color Multi Pen vs. Pilot Hi-Tec-C
IMG_2482 Resized
0.4 mm tips
I'm not kidding when I say I spent hours on JetPens, trying to pick the body and refills I wanted. In the end, I narrowed it down to the 5 color body in clear pink with the following refills:

- 0.5 mm violet
- 0.4 mm apricot orange
- 0.5 mm apple green
- 0.5 mm baby pink
- 0.4 mm cherry pink

I absolutely LOVE all these colors!! They're cheery, springy, and happy. I think they all fit together quite nicely as well.
IMG_2476 Resized
IMG_2479 Resized
Happy colors!
The body is quite simple: it's a simple plastic make up that's easy to figure out and use. Pop the cap off at the top, put your refills in, and pop it back into place. Easy peasy! It's also great because you can see what color refill to select based on the color of the knob at the top. The sides of the refills also indicate the tip size (in case you're not a nib-freak and can't tell just by looking at it...). Okay so I won't blab about the body. For the price, it's not going to blow your mind as far as component bodies go, but it's cute and not too expensive.

There is a thin layer of grip around the barrel near the tip and it's just for gripping purposes, not cushioning so don't expect it to relieve grip pain if you hold your pens tightly. Especially in the case of the larger barrels. Speaking of larger barrels, I thought the 5-body would be really bulky but it wasn't and I am able to write with it comfortably. I wouldn't have a writing marathon in it but it's fine for doodles and jotting notes in my journal (given the price of refills, I don't want to use it for every task anyway...).

A great thing about Coletos is that you can get a whole bunch of different bodies if Hello Kitty pink isn't your thing. There is also a whole slew of refills including various tip sizes, a mechanical pencil, and stylus. You can do some serious customization with what's available!

Having written with the Hi-Tec-C before, I was expecting similar performance and I was not let down! The Coleto refills write wonderfully - there was not a hint of scratchiness or skipping (although neither 0.4 mm or 0.5 mm are thaaaat fine). They don't show through or bleed through, under normal writing conditions. It dries very quickly too and doesn't smear - perfect for left-handed writers (who also deserve nice pens).
IMG_2478 Resized
My only complaint is that the refills are too expensive for how long they last. They are much smaller than regular Hi-Tec Cs and don't last as long. Gel ink runs out pretty quickly in general, and the Coleto refills run out even quicker!
IMG_2485 Resized
Top: Coleto refill. Bottom: Hi-Tec-C cartridge.
Can I interest you in more Coleto?
Economy Pens
Office Supply Geek
Office Supply Geek (A different one.)
Pen Addict
Office Supply Geek (Yes. Another one.)
No Pen Intended
Multi Pen Dimensions

Price:
JetPens - $4.25
Refills - $2.20 each

Overall:
Super fun to write with and so many color options available! Given the price of the Coleto bodies, the price of refills and bodies sort of "balance out". Okay. That's just me justifying that I'm going to continue to use the Coleto because I love having this multipen and I love the colors Pilot has made for them! I'm already looking at another Coleto body so I can have one of each color always at hand!
IMG_2487 Resized
A pretty pink pair: Clear pink Coleto + Ikea sketchbook

**I was provided one or more of these products for review, but all opinions are my own!

8 comments:

Shangching CH said...

Yay, you finally got your Coleto!  Does your refill rattle against the barrel while you write?  I just noticed it yesterday, but it could be I write pretty hard on paper.  Amazingly, the .3mm is not as scratchy as before!  That is a very telling sign.. I am definitely using mine too often!

mary jane ong said...

yay!  yo got cute one.... been considering getting one but i like my jetstreams better..

GourmetPens said...

Ooooh I've got some Jetstreams on my wish list....

GourmetPens said...

Hmm no rattling here... that I recall.. I will double check! Usually that kind of thing would annoy me but I didn't notice! 

Shangching CH said...

I did not notice it while I was doing the review, but recently, I have been hearing it more and more.  It does not really bother me, but I was afraid that I am breaking the pen by writing too hard.

JohnJ said...

Oh, I hope Brad didn't get fired for giving you this pen. Poor guy needs a job now. JK, I am sure that is not the reason. At least I hope they wouldn't fire him for such a thing.

GourmetPens said...

Heh, I hope that's not the reason either! I would feel rather guilty then...!!

Lindsay said...

Just came across your blog today, so I've been checking it out..
This is a great review, I've beeen debating on these pens for some time, but since reading your review I am thinking..nah, not right now.
so thanks saved me some dough, for the moment ;).

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
 
Creative Commons License
GourmetPens by Azizah Asgarali is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://www.gourmetpens.com.
COPYRIGHT©2010-2024