Say you're on your way to a meeting with an important client, and realize that you've forgotten the stately Lamy 2000 that you use as your "meeting pen"--not too flashy, yet impressive all the same. What do you do? Run into the Office Depot / Staples parking lot and pick up one of these. Like many other pen companies, Pentel offers an upgraded barrel for their EnerGel line of disposable gel pens. The cost is around $10, and for that you get a shiny, and fairly sturdy, "chrome" pen body with a textured metal grip. It also comes in black, turquoise, pink, and purple.
I like this pen better than the Pilot G2 Limited that I previously reviewed. The G2 Limited rattles a lot and after extensive use feels like it is about to fall apart, which makes sense because the pen is primarily plastic and the components loosen up over time. The EnerGel Alloy is a machined metal pen. It's very light, and if I had one critique it's that the body is slightly long in the hand. Because there's not much weight to it, however, it doesn't throw the balance off and I don't mind. This pen and the Render K (with a red Hi-Tec-C refill) will travel with me to New Orleans, where I'll be attending a conference for a few days (and hoping to visit this place).
So how does it write? It writes like an EnerGel, and that's a good thing. I'm an unabashed fan of EnerGels, particularly the .5mm needle-points, and have been somewhat disappointed with the lack of Kickstarter barrel option for this refill (at least without significant hacking). Until someone makes one (or e-mails me, tells me I'm an idiot, and points me to an obvious Kickstarter option that I've missed), I'm happy with the Alloy. I was surprised to find that you can get the Chrome model for just over $5 on Amazon, so I'm dropping some affiliate links in here. Note that the Alloy is sold with the conical-tip refill, not the needlepoint. The conical tip is still good, but you may have to shell out an extra few bucks for a set of refills if you want to go with the needle-point.