Getting to the Point

Double-clicking isn’t just for mice anymore. Avery Dennison has just come out with its stylish new DoubleClick ballpoint pen. It writes just fine and, with a quick click, turns into a handy stylus for your PDA.

The silver DoubleClick is reminiscent of the bulky plastic pens that let users click between four colors of ink.

With DoubleClick, the choice is black ink or a well-designed plastic stylus tip whose shade of green perfectly matches the on/off button on a Palm V. (It was designed by the same company that helped design the Palm V, Handspring Visor and TiVo.) Simply twist the lower half of the DoubleClick to switch from pen to stylus.

We found the ballpoint pen mediocre at best, though at least it can accommodate refills. But the stylus is far superior to the dinky black one that comes with the Palm V. Its plastic grip is more comfortable, and the sharper point allows for more precise Graffiti writing.

The biggest drawback to the DoubleClick is that it’s too bulky to fit in a standard PDA case. And unfortunately, it’s just the right size for getting lost in a purse, briefcase or moderately messy desk.

There probably isn’t a very good solution to this problem of being too big and too small at the same time. To make matters worse, both Palm and Handspring are introducing ever-sleeker models of their flagship personal digital assistants.

DoubleClick retails for $5.99 and is available at Wal-Mart, OfficeMax and Staples.