The Perfect PDA Pen
Rotring Quattro Pens and Supplies

We searched and searched and searched for the perfect PDA pen and we’ve eventually found it! It’s the Quattro Data by German pen company Rotring. We sold it here for a decade. Now Sanford, the new US corporate owners of Rotring, won't supply us because we only want to sell what we like and not the rest of their products.

This is the pen we use ourselves with our PDAs (PalmOS, Psion, Pocket PC and others - yes, we like gadgets!). It is machined from solid brass and ours seem to withstand all sorts of accidents - not flimsy and fragile like those cheap aluminium ones you see elsewhere.

• One instument meets all your writing needs, beautifully
• Made by Rotring, so solid & reliable and refills easily available worldwide
• Metal barrel, black graphite finish to complement most PDAs
• Four pens in one: black medium ballpoint, 0.5mm automatic pencil, orange fluorescent highlighter, stylus data-point for computers
• Tip is selected by holding the pen with the appropriate icon uppermost & pressing the button (yes, a pen with a GUI!)

We added a side-line to our consulting business in about 1994, selling Rotring pens and then spares. We had a great relationship with Rotring and helped thousands of customers each year find a great pen. Sadly, when Rotring was acquired by the US stationery giant Sanford (who also own Parker, Berol and other brands) things started to go down hill, with "cost optimisations" making trading with them harder and harder. Finally last autumn we got a letter from them saying that, as part of yet another "cost cutting measure" we were not spending enough money with them to be able to purchase Rotring products directly from them. They will now only sell stock to companies that buy thousands of pounds in stock each month. That rules us out. We only want to handle the pens we like, not the rest of their range, and they won't supply on any terms. They directed us to their wholesale customers but none of them actually carries Rotring - they only cater to mass-market products. So don't be surprised if Rotring goods get harder and harder to buy in the UK - we have noticed them being harder and harder to find in pen shops, who presumably have the same experience as us.

This is all a long way of apologising for the fact that we will not be able to supply the goods you are looking for as our (once substantial) stock has finally run out and we can't renew it. My deepest apologies for letting you down, but it is beyond our control.
We now only have a few items left in stock - if any of these are useful to you, we would be pleased to help. I've attached a web page with ordering buttons using Paypal to safely mediate payment (as we have now terminated our credit card facility - our remaining business doesn't need it)..

Refills and Spares

We used to stock a comprehensive range of refills and spares. Unlike pretty much everyone else, we sell most refills singly for your convenience. All the interesting spares (especially stylus tips) have now sold out, sorry.