Reviews: Styli

Stylus+ 4-in-1

First Impressions -
    Finally, the styli have come. No, it wasn't slow mail service, but I finally have received what has to be the best set of styli ever. Unlike many of the other styli I have, that get left in the bottom of my "Stylus drawer", these will be highly used. Though the three of these styli might be very similar inside, they all have a different look and thus a different use in my day-to-day PDAing. The inside of each has two pens (black and red), a mechanical pencil, and a great stylus. Now I have received many 4-in-1's, but never have a received any with an orange stylus in them. Why is orange so great you might ask. First, it looks cool. Second, if you are in a dark place using your device, and the only light you have to go by is that of your devices backlight, you can easily see which tip you are about to use.

Pointing and writing -
    The "Stylus+ 4-way cross hatch" was the first stylus I tried from Stylus+. It is the more traditional 4-in-1 stylus (pictured on the left above). It writes very easily. With a normal stylus, I tend to have more trouble making calligrapher recognize my characters, but with these styli I get a much higher number of recognized characters. The grip is not anything special, just a textured version of the metal. It isn't that bad on your hand, though I do think after long usage, you hand might get tired more quickly with this stylus then with some of the others. 
    The "Stylus+ 4-way wood"was the second stylus I tried. It is the same as the first, except that it has what looks to be a wood grip (pictured on the right). The stylus has an improved accuracy with calligrapher, which I think was because of the better grip. Though the grip is different, your hand might get as tired with this one as with the other. The one thing I dislike about this specific one is that the wood grip makes the pen fatter at the bottom. This might help you write, but I think I would be less likely to have this one in my pocket over the other two.
    The "Stylus+ 4-way original" was the third stylus I tried. It is the same as the first two except that it is shiny metal (instead of dull) and has a rubber grip. I was very surprised after writing with this one, because I thought it was have at least as good an accuracy for me as the first two, but it didn't. When you look at it compared to the first stylus, it is a little more streamlined and thinner, which could be the cause. The rubber grip is nice though; it isn't as soft as some other regular pens I have used.

Overall Worth -
    These styli are really the cream of the crop. Though I might have had more trouble with one, they are overall very good, high quality styli. I don't think you will have any trouble with these breaking like others I have used. You will probably enjoy your PDA much more with a better stylus, so make sure to check these out. They are well worth the money.
Pros:
High Quality 
Different styles 
ORANGE STYLUS! 
Red/Black Pens
Pencil
Cons:

Update (July 2002) - 
    This is a very common style of stylus now.  My Pocket PC Club stylus is the same form factor just with a different grip.  Out of these three, I am using the Stylus+ 4-way original the most simply because of how it looks.  I like to use this in a more professional setting because of its obvious look.  No problems with any of these when I use them, though I have been having problems with one similar to the Stylus+ 4-way crosshatch (but not one from Stylus+).


Feel free to email me about your own PDA, questions, comments, articles, rumors, and reviews.  I can be reached at dave@davespda.com.