Uniball Alpha-Gel HD Mechanical Pencil

The Uni Alpha-Gel series offers an impressive selection of colors and sizes for pencils, pens, and multi-pens. All of these writing instruments use some form of Uniball's super soft and over-sized  rubber grips. If you've never experienced it for yourself, the grip is one of the most comfortable out there.

The Alpha-Gel also comes in a variety of lead mechanisms and mine (pictured above) is a "shaka-shaker" version. In case you are not familiar with this type, is uses a weight which can be shaken back-and-forth by the user to push out a bit of lead with each stroke. 

Shake advance off

Shake advance on

The pencil has a straight, unretractable lead sleeve, and a long conical plastic tip between the sleeve and the grip. This tip forces you to hold the pencil pretty far back and may be too much for some people. The pencil has a small eraser under the top cap and a rather flimsy but effective pocket clip.

Pros: The grip is fantastic, and the shaker mechanism is useful. 

Cons: It would be nice if the pencil had a retractable lead sleeve and a sturdier clip.

Price: Around $10 for many different varieties at Jet Pens

Parker Insignia Pencil Review

The Insignia is from a line of Parker pens and pencils that has since been phased-out. The Insignia is a long and narrow mechanical pencil with a light blue body (though other colors are available), and metal accents.

The pencil uses a standard top button to advance the lead (0.5 mm standard) and when the button is first depressed, a short, straight, metal lead sleeve comes out. While many other pencil's store an eraser under the top cap, to access the Insignia's eraser you must pull the entire top half of the body completely off and then a large red eraser is available. Underneath the eraser, the pencil is able to store an impressive amount of spare lead .

Pros: The pencil's slim design gives it a high quality feel similar to that of a high-quality woodcase pencil, and I like the color a lot too.

Cons: The pencil can be slippery and uncomfortable for extended use, and the top half has a tendency to slide up the body without being pushed.

Price: One of the least expensive Parker's and as of the writing of this review many can be found online in the $10 range