rOtring 800 Retractable Mechanical Pencil, 0.5mm, Silver Metal Barrel - For Drafting, Engineering, Architecture Professionals

I'll start this off by saying that I was skeptical about this pencil, but needed something to replace the pencils that I had gotten previously that all broke rather quickly for one reason or another. I was not disappointed. This pencil is solidly built- the barrel is all metal as stated (brass I believe), and has a good weight and feel in the hand. Most of the internals are metal, although there are some plastic parts, they re not part of the action of the actual pencil. The only plastic component that I can see is the led reservoir tube and eraser holder. The pencil in itself, is just a nice object in general, the lines that create the shape are simple but elegant and very pleasing to the eye, and it has a great and solid weight to it, making it great to write and draw with. It is worth noting- the first one I got did have a problem with breaking lead occasionally (I got a second one because the first- I thought- was stolen, although it turned up later), this was easily fixed by a small piece of tape around the part of the led sleeve that extends from the grip, and this completely solved the problem, and the pencil has not broken a single piece of led since I did this. The second pencil I purchased did not have this problem in the first place and functions perfectly. This pencil writes very well, as mentioned before although not quite as well as the Rotring 600 because the retractable tip inherently makes the system less "stiff" when writing. The Retractable tip though, is in my opinion a huge upside for my purposes, as I like to carry it around, something that is not recommended with the Rotring 600. Overall, I would highly recommend this pencil to anyone looking to get a reliable, aesthetically pleasing pencil that writes very well. It is a bit pricey, in my opinion worth every penny.

I felt obligated to write something about this pencil. This was one of the few times that I didn't read the reviews before ordering what seemed to be the perfect mechanical pencil. Just for the record, I wanted something that was fantastically solid, didn't roll away, and felt precise; I'm not a drafter, an engineer, nor an architect.... My career-life is digital, and I simply wanted something that made me smirk. I'm an avid fountain pen user, and have honestly never given carbon a chance since high school, but to be completely honest, my favorite ink (noodlers baystate blue) didn't work well for quick notes in my Midori passport notebook without inking the opposing back page before drying. I will defend ink to my grave, but for notes..... Yeah, I'm willing to give some slack. So this lead me into the idea of pencils, or rather, mechanical pencils! If you've looked for a high-end mechanical pencil, then you've undoubtedly stumbled across the rotring 600/800/800+ series. I personally don't want something to replace my finger, so I opted out of the 800+ and simple ordered the regular 800; I already mentioned: I'm not an engineer, drafter, nor architect. So for the regular person that is wanting to try a nice mechanical pencil..... How exactly does it feel? Simple! This thing feels better than anything else you've ever touched with a graphite core! I'll assume the readers have filtered themselves through a ton of mixed reviews, but I'll just say that unless you've handled some sort of ultra-simple and ultra-high-end drafting pencil..... The 800 will put a smile on your face. The second it touches the first page, you'll feel an immediate connection, or rather a full-blown obligation to excite your very own tactical page-dump. In a nutshell, you'll wish you owned something like this during your high school days. Does the lead break? No. I swam through over a hundred reviews that boasted the whole lead breaking thing, but I assumed it was because the fittings weren't properly tightened.... I actually feel like I was right. Right out of the mail box it was loose.... Pretty much all of the mechanics were loose in all honesty, but I tightened them before the 'lead' ever hit paper. I haven't had a single break yet. This isn't to say I'll never have one, but while I may not be a technical drawer, nor an engineer, I assume breaks come from wobbly pieces, and these are absolutely stone-solid once you tighten everything. It wobbles: it does, by definition, have a bit of play. With that said, the "play" is significantly less than any other mechanical pencil I've ever used. The guide tubes in every other mechanical pencil I've ever tried has significantly more play than what I'm seeing with the 800. This may move literally (in definition) a hairs-width when it hits the paper, but it is 1,000 times more precise and less playful than any other mechanical pencil I've ever used.... I'm just someone that wanted a fantastic mechanical pencil, not some engineer or drafter. It feels like a marshmallow when you advance the lead. Nope, my specific sample is crazy clicks and has insane advancement feedback. Idk if this has been improved, or if This is simply the mindset of someone that isn't in that type of career, but it isn't spongey like I've read at all. Keep in mind that I did tighten everything, so maybe that's why, but I'm not totally sure. The actual mechanics feel really solid. When you extract the tip, you realize this isn't some sort of cheap Zebra pencil. It is about 1/4th of a turn to manipulate the tip, and it is scary efficient. The second you hit paper with it you'll most definitely smile. In the end, I'm sure that, by definition, the 600 model will be more precise, but as someone that's not in that type of career where I need to draft or design..... This thing really does make you feel like you've been missing out on the world of graphite. Perhaps I received a premium example, I'm not sure, but after feeling the one I received, I am pretty sure I would return/swap this as many times necessary to eventually get a good one.... It's that nice.

I already own the Rotring 600 and the Rapid Pro, both 0.5 and leads B, but I was excited when decided to buy the 800. First attempt not lucky, the lead breaking started after some minutes of writing, frequently and in a random way. Six or seven hours later it slow donwn and the breaking was much less frequent. However, never really stopped. Contacted Amazon and the exceptional Amazon’s customer service did the trick, creating a replacement. Two days later I got the new one and then totally different story. This one is great and after hours of writing and drawing I have no doubts this is the best mechanical pencil I ever had. The 600 is excellent but not retractable, the Rapid Pro also a great and beatiful pencil,may be a bit heavy wich doesn’t bother me, is retractable. However the 800 is outstanding. The aesthetic is awesome, the materials and the quality of construction is great and the writing experience very good, may be better than the two ones I refered before. Additionaly the rotation mechanism to advance and retract the lead is a ingenious idea (the safety detail to not advance the tip and lead when retracted great).By the way the tip wobbling is virtually nonexistent. So I admit I was hesitating how to rate the product when looking at the first pencil. However I have to admit that was a defective one and after all, what is important is the pencil I have now (I replaced the original 0.5 HB leads with softer B without a problem). No doubts now this is a brilliant mechanical pencil which deserves the 5 stars.

I've had a few of this model pencil over the past 20 or so years. Suffice to say it is one of my favorites for a mechanical pencil. The knurled grip provides traction without chewing away at your skin. It feels solid, well weighted, and overall gives a premium experience while writing out a quick note. I definitely prefer this 800 model over the lower models due to the retractable tip, which means I can carry it in my pocket without fear of damage if necessary. It currently lives on my office desk with some nice pens. It might cost more than your typical Bic mechanical pencil, but I've never worn one out, only lost them.

Generally not a bad pencil, but it doesn't seem to work well for me. I prefer softer lead (3B) for darker writing, and the softer lead tends to be a bit fragile. There seems to be a tiny bit of wobbling in the tip of the pencil, and it's enough to break the lead. As a result, every time I advance the lead, I find I have to advance it enough to eject a whole segment of lead. The pencil seems to have the effect of internally breaking up each lead into many short pieces, which makes it annoying to use and wastes a lot of lead. This might work fine for you if you use standard HB lead or harder, though, which is not as fragile.

Let me start by saying, I have been on the hunt for the perfect feel for quite a while. I'm picky. Very picky. So when i find what i like, I'm loyal to it. Sometimes to a fault. but in this comparison I believe I'm being fair and honest. Lert's not mince words.. Rotring is the Rolls Royce of functional mechanical pencils. There are of course much more expensive luxury pencils on the market and I've tried a lot of them. I have not purchased the more expensive luxury versions but I have friends that indulge, so I have borrowed some (they're insane letting me borrow a $4000.00 pencil) for a day just to test. FYI That pencil was actually a set. so that dollar amount bought 4 instruments. it was the Graf von Faber-Castell Elemento Limited Edition set. Now, the luxury pencils need to be eliminated from this review because they are simply not a viable option for 99% of the planet. I think I'd opt for something much different for that price. but not only that, those instruments are built for style and class, not necessarily function. In fact, I prefer the items I'm listing below to any of the expensive items I've tried. I narrowed down my search to a handful. The Pentel Graph Gear 500. The Pentel Graph Gear 1000, the Rotring 600 and the Rotring 800. The Pentel's are nice pencils, and they work great. But frankly they are not in the same class as the Rotrings and that is fairly represented in the price. They don't have the weight and balance. My primary goal was the feel of the pencil. We know they will all work, and honestly i don't care how they work, as long as they do. the mechanism for making them work while great from an engineering standpoint is largely irrelevant from a usability standpoint. My requirement? when I mash the button at the top does lead advance? does it do this consistently? if so, that's all I care about, with one minor difference which I will point out.. The jewel of the Rotring in my eyes is the weighting. These pencils are made of metal. not Plastic (although some of the internal parts are plastic). They are weighted just as I would hope. They feel like a solid instrument and I really like that. in fact, that is the main reason I prefer the Rotring. The differences between the 600 and the 800 are mainly that the 600 lacks the ability to retract the tip into the sleeve, protecting you from shirt pokes and leg stabs. Personally this is not a big issue for me, as I work from home now and i don't carry them around. But even when I did, I didn't find that to be that big of an issue. There is one other difference which is just silly to me. The 600 has a dial indicator you set to note which lead you have in it. HB, 2B, etc. The 800 unbelievably doesn't have this option. I can only assume it's because of the additional movement required for the retracting tip. But to me this is almost a deal breaker. Why? because I have several of the same pencil. The only difference is which lead is in it. So I use the dial. With the 800 the only way I could do this without using silly stickers, would be to only use two. a black and a silver. then just remember which has which. I cannot believe they didn't' work this into the 800. but that alone is almost good enough to choose the 600. The one thing I will say about the retracting tip, the 800 does it right. The Pentel 1000 has this feature too, but it's applied with the clip. You press the top fo the clip and the whole thing pops back based on tension. With the 800 you twist the top of the pencil and it pulls the tip back manually. I don't know why, but I prefer the method of the 800. Neither cumbersome so I don't really know why, other than I tend to be OCD and I found myself clicking the Pentel back and forth like a nervous tick. There are other differences between the 800 and the 600 but I'm not going to get into those that refer to the internal mechanism because again, if it works, it works. BUT, there is one key feature to me that makes one stand above the other. Feel. The Rotring 600 has the perfect balance, period. It feels right. I purchased the 600 before the 800, so I knew I was already a fan, but I was disappointed in the 800. I can't really explain it, but the 600 just has a better balance for me. They appear to be the exact same length. The tips are slightly different and I am guessing the retracting mechanism in the 800 is what throws off the balance. The tips appear slightly different, but not much, though i will admit, I love the gold color of the 800 tip. The 600 does not have this option. I think the knurling on the grip is a little different between the two, but without a magnifying glass I can't see the difference. i think the 800 might have a tighter knurl. Both work fine for me. So in my eyes, if these two pencils were priced exactly the same? i would pick the 600. Now factor in the price difference of almost 50% more for the 800 and it's a no brainer. I like to keep 4 or 5 pencils handy with difference lead hardness. So I will have several of the same pencil with different hardness of leads. What I don't understand is the Rotrings used to have an indicator on the top of the eraser cap for the lead. That is no longer the case. Now they are hollow and you can just see the eraser inside. Then again, I could be mistaken and this could be a feature of the clutch versions that have this cap indicator. I don't think that's the case, but I wish they had this on the 800 so there was some way to distinguish what lead is in it. It's still unbelievable to me that they'd remove the lead indicator dial, but the final difference, and this is pretty small, but something that did bother me. the 600 has a well pronounced click when you advance the lead. The 800 has a more soft click. It almost feels like it's not working. I don't know why, but that bothered me. For me, there is no question. I will buy the 600, especially when I can get two of them versus one 800, and have the lead indicator on them. 800? great pencil. Too expensive. 600? perfect weight, perfect functionality, and perfect price.

I’ve owned one of these for 5 years now, and it’s still my favorite mechanical pencil. Are they expensive? Yes, but you are getting a sturdy brass pencil that will last a lifetime, and can take falls and steady use. They are a bit heavy, but you get used to that over time, and while not everyone prefers the lack of stippled grip on these, I like the elegance that brings. These are both aesthetically, pleasing and practical, and make a great gift (especially for engineers): I’ve definitely given at least three people one of these.

This is the best mechanical pencil money can buy.

Costs more for a reason. Ranks very high for appearance and look and feel. Functional high end item

Sin ninguna duda el mejor portaminas que he tenido nunca, la calidad se paga, menos mal que lo compré con una oferta, de todas formas vale cada euro, lo volvería a comprar y no descarto comprar algún día el de 0,7

I have both 800 and 600. While i like both, the 800 feels more comfortable in my hand

De muy buena calidad y excelente funcionamiento, gracias 😊

Excelente qualidade de construção. Uma peça de arte além de uma peça de engenharia. Recomendo. Já é o segundo que encomendo.