rOtring Rapid Pro Mechanical Pencil, 0.7 mm, Black

This lead holder is probably one of the best lead/mechanical pencil I’ve own. The weight is good and feels nice in your hands. The grip feels nice when drawing and for extended use. I bought the black pencil and love the look of it. I know it’s a little pricey but the quality is amazing and you won’t have to keep buying cheaper lead holders and mechanical pencils that will add up to one of these. I love there are two ways to release the lead. One you can just hold down on the top and you the lead will be free to adjust to your liking. The other way is by just clicking on the top, it will gradually release a little bit of lead at a time. The top is also a sharpener if you are in a bind. I use a third party sharpener but the top sharpens and does its job. Overall a great product and if I could, I would purchase all the colors

I have a LOT of mechanical pencils and lead holders of various brands and sizes, and this is one of my favorite brands. Yes, they are expensive, but they make nice pencils. this lead holder has a very nice, heavy feel, works smoothly, and it a joy to use. I will say that if you are used to a clutch pencil, this may not be what you expect - this lead holder advances the lead incrementally, like any click-advance mechanical pencil of a smaller lead size. If you want an open feed so the lead can be fed out in large lengths quickly this will not be the best choice. That said, I don't find the slower advance a problem, even when sharpening.To point the lead, you can do one of two things: advance the lead by clicking a number of times, point the lead, then hold the advance down while slipping the lead back into the barrel to the desired length, or you can hold the advance in while slipping the lead out of the barrel, point it, and then slip it back in. If you try to point the lead using a pointer without advancing the lead a few inches it won't point - the lead won't be able to reach the blade or cutter threads. For me, this is no problem - I'm very happy to trade the open clutch for a much nicer tool to draw with.There is a pointer in the cap as well, which does not require as much lead length as a 'trash can' style pointer and I find it works quite well. There is a small plastic insert in the cap that prevents the 'lead' shavings from going into the barrel body, so be sure to gently tap out the shavings after pointing or you may have fine dust occasionally falling from the cap. The convenience of having a pointer built-in like that is quite nice if you travel or work in the field.Pros: Solid construction, good hand feel, sturdy clip, built-in pointer, controllable advance, appearance.Cons: Cost (this costs a lot more than many of the plastic-body alternatives)

Exceptional product!! Full metal bobby, solid internal mechanic that works every time, giving you a firm lead grip. If you draw with pressure, the lead won’t come back. I’m an architect, and I really, really use this rotring product every day.

This pencil is built extremely well, and I would recommend it to anyone. If you do the math, this pencil will cost less over a period of 10 years than buying 24 packs of BIC Mechanical Pencil with Colorful Barrels, Fine Point (0.5 mm), 24 Pencils. Over 10 years, the average student will go through 10-20 BIC pencils a year(not counting time out of school). This means that over 10 years, it will cost you from $27-$55 to use BIC pencils, whereas the Rotring will cost you from $20-$40(as long as you don't lose it!), meanwhile the Rotring looks extremely nice and expensive.Now for the actual review-The Rotring Rapid PRO feels very well balanced in your hand. Many people I have talked to think that it would be very heavy, and hard to maneuver, but that is not the case. Rotring has done a great job of balancing the pencil by placing more weight towards the writing end, so that when you write, you are moving the lighter end. Personally, I like the heavier feel anyway.Compared to its siblings, the Rapid PRO is a great compromise. The Rotring 600 is a few dollars cheaper, but you will miss out on the retractable lead sleeve. I think that this feature is extremely important, for one reason -without it I might have already bent the tip in the first week of using it! I retract the tip every time I'm not writing with it to be safe. As far as looks go, I think that it looks awesome. The smoothed edges on the barrel look great. I thought that the chrome accents might look cheesy, but they really make the pencil look even more sleek. This pencil is not hard to hold at all, which is an aspect that other reviewers have discouraged. The knurled grip is very comfortable, and also slightly larger than that of the 600 or the much more expensive 800.If you are having trouble deciding whether to purchase this pencil, especially if you are a student, go ahead! Even if you do not use pencils very much, or if you prefer pens, I am sure you will love using this one.

Decided to purchase de Rapid Pro despite some criticism agaist the middle connector made of red plastic. Honestly, this piece of plastic looks and feels very resilient and I don't see how it could fail IF the pencil is used correctly. This is a moderately expensive item as should be valued and cared as such. I like the mate black finish and its quality and functionality.

Why did you pick this product vs others?:The pencil is awesome and durable but the recommended eraser refills are the wrong size to fit the tube under the cap. What is the proper size eraser refill for this pencil?

The weight and feel of this pencil are perfect, making it an essential part of my design work. I mainly use it for note-taking and sketches and I buy the .7mm because it is less apt to snapping the lead. I WISH they made this pencil in .9mm for my red lead (red is even more fragile). I had a bonding moment with a client recently who pulled out a leather case with several Rotrings, in a variety of lead weights and we geeked out for a few minutes over how much we love these mechanical pencils.