Yafa Quadro

Gadgeteer Hands On Review by Don Damiani

October 10, 1999

The Quadro Data Pen by Yafa is a pen/pencil/stylus that has an added surprise. It has 4 tips instead of the usual 3. The fourth tip is a neon highlighter. (It's neon ball point pen ink). To get the tip you want, you simply rotate the pen until the tip "icon" on the end of the pen is pointing up and push the plunger.

First impressions are important to me and when I first started using this pen, I really liked it a lot. It has a heavy feel to it and it felt good in my hand. It was easy to get the tips to come out and retract. And the stylus was very soft, and felt good on the PDA screen.

I also liked the neon ink pen that gives this pen a bit more flexibility. But as I was using it for about 2 weeks, I noticed that the pencil tip was starting to stick and not retract properly. In order to get the pencil tip to retract, I would have to unscrew the pen body a half turn until it pops back in. In addition to this problem, the tip that I wanted didn't always come out the first time I pushed the plunger, even though I had it in the correct position. As I have reviewed similar multi pen/pencil/stylus devices, I have found both of these to be common problems.

(Highlighter)

Another common annoyance in devices like these multi pen/pencil/styli is something I call "rattle factor". This may or may not bother you, but I personally don't like pens that rattle, and my Platinum Double 3 Exec pen doesn't rattle at all. But it only has 3 tips and you eject the tips by rotating the pen rather than pushing a plunger. It also cost around $5 more than the Quadro Data Pen.

The black ink wasn't as smooth as some other pens that I have reviewed, and on some surfaces, I had trouble getting it to write at all. I thought that something was wrong with the pen, but as soon as I used it on white paper, it worked fine. The paper I had trouble with was a company Purchase Order form with multiple carbon copies. Usually the softer the paper, the easier they write. That said, the pen cartridges are easy to remove.

As far as the styling of the Quadro Data Pen, I like the brushed finish on the body, which eliminates finger prints. And the rubber gripper end felt very comfortable. (Maybe it's just me, but if I spend a lot on a pen, I don't like to see messy finger prints all over it.) There is also a handy pencil eraser under the plunger.

I don't know if the pen that I have to review is typical of Yafa's products, but I would say that since the company has been in business for 20 years, they probably have a good return policy. I'll also bet that they know a great deal about manufacturing pens, as their company offers about 100 different pens in all sorts of styles. The Quadro Data Pen is a bit more expensive than other's that I have seen. I would only recommend it if you like the styling and are not afraid to return it if you get a defective one.

Price: $29.95

Pros:
4 pen tips.
Smooth stylus tip.
Pencil eraser on the plunger end.

Cons:**
Pencil started to stick and not retract properly.
Pen tip selected didn't always come out on first attempt.
Rattles a lot.
**These "Cons" are typical of similar multi pen/pencil/stylus devices.