For what it's worth, those Sharpie felt tip pens also draw ink with capillary action. This is what I use and it definitely reduces fatigue as compared with a ballpoint.

Having used both: Sharpie felt tip pens drag on paper a lot more than fountain pens do. It makes controlling the pen easier, but overall there's more effort that goes into writing with them.

Sharpies have pretty powerful fumes...

Put a JoWo #6 nib on it ($15) and it will write like a $150 pen.

Sometimes just flushing the chinese pens out with a little water and maybe a drop of detergent will do the trick.

I’m curious - what makes the nib “better”?

It is subjective - they feel smoother, glass-like. One factor is most cheap Chinese nibs are not cut exactly at the middle. This can be seen with a 10x+ loupe. The metal is not as hard. Different metal types have different surface tension so it affects ink flow. It works without adjustment while most Chinese nibs need adjustment, alignment and polishing (which is fun in itself to do).

The original Jinhao pen nib is quite usable, but the other parts of e.g. a x750 pen are much better, so it is a popular mod to change the nib for a German one, or a Japanese Zebra G flexible nib.

I have recently bought a Lecai Chinese pen and the nib seemed to be flawless. These guys in the right track on making a 100% Chinese upper quality pen.

Both of the sibling comments, plus good nibs don't have any rough edges which touch the paper. They've been ground/sanded down so smooth that they effectively hydroplane on the ink they're depositing.

You can improve some inexpensive nibs by simply "writing" on a high grit sandpaper or sharpening stone, but if the metal is too soft you can quickly wear away the writing surface entirely. I'd do this with the pilot disposable fountain pens with good results.

Ink flow. But that can be (and should be) fine tuned even for expensive pens.

Why can't Chinese marketers come up with Western-sounding brand names?

This is so annoying.

They may be a better value, but European brands give you peace of mind.

Like “Canadian Solar”?

I’d prefer my Chinese products to be honestly Chinese. Write clear marketing copy, give a specification written in decent English without random Chinese characters interspersed, and you’ll have some happy English-speaking customers.

I agree to an extent, but I think it's mostly an issue of branding. Consider that Japanese brands were once associated with poor quality, but as their quality improved their brands became better known.

Chinese pens have been greatly increasing in quality for a few years now. Today, I recommend the Wing Sung 698 and 608 for new fountain pen users.

What ink did you choose?

I am having trouble with ink drying up in my pilot pen.

The pilot cartridges don’t dry up. Only the bottle ink.

Noodlers xfeather black, haven't had any issues, but I also haven't compared it to other inks. It's just been good enough and one bottle has lasted me years (since I first got a fountain pen).