bit-tech Shopping: Pentel Sharp Kerry Mechanical Pencil with Cap, Pocket Clip, .5MM, Black Metal Barrel

Rating: 6

Time with product: 1 Month

Strengths: Excellent fit and finish, solid feel in the hand, stylish, cap and body are separate pieces

Weaknesses: Poorly executed eraser, pricey

Summary: Overall, Pentel has produced a nice mechanical pencil. It's a solid writing instrument with a good balance and mechanics that just feel sturdy. The ingenious two-piece design is also a plus in my book. That being said, the Achilles heel of this pencil is the eraser. It is small in diameter and is held in a fixed position. Thus, to expose more of the plastic eraser, one has to remove the eraser and cylindrical metal support from the pen cap, pry the metal away from the eraser, reposition the eraser to the desired position, compress the metal cylinder around the eraser to hold it firmly, and reinsert the eraser assembly back into the pen cap. Needless to say, this is both cumbersome and time consuming every time the eraser starts to wear down. In addition, the eraser cap is made of a weaker metal than any other exposed surface of the pencil. As a result, the eraser cap on mine has already collected a pair of dents from drops in one month of use while the rest of the pencil still looks pristine. To anyone at Pentel reading this review: design a better eraser. For $15 a pencil, I'd expect an eraser design equal to or better than the mechanism I've seen on $1-$2 mechanical pencils. Only time will tell how this writing instrument holds up, but for now I'm generally pleased and would recommend this to others looking for a mechanical pencil that's a notch above the competition is mechanics and looks--just so long as you don't plan on erasing things frequently.