Posts filed under Notebook Reviews

Midori MD Letter Pad Review

Midori MD Letter Pads are designed with a purpose. As the name dictates, they are primarily letter writing pads, but, as someone who doesn’t write letters, I think they are useful for all types of creativity. There are a couple of things they aren’t for, too.

Midori makes some of the best paper products on the market. Not only that, but I would be hard pressed to find another brand with this much variety in their lineup. It’s astonishing, and borderline overwhelming. Even the letter writing focused pads have several different formats and layouts.

I chose a standard letter pad layout in the Midori MD Stationery Horizontal Ruled A, which includes 50 pages of Midori’s proprietary paper. Paper I know, and I love. The line format - soft grey lines 9.5 mm apart, with wide margins - is the unique factor here. This is paper with a purpose, and that is to create something fun, interesting, and beautiful, for someone other than yourself.

What it isn’t is a desk pad, or a journal. Technically, you could use a Midori Letter Pad in this manner, but why? If you love Midori, you have a dozen other choices to solve those problems. Same with the stack of unused notebooks sitting on your shelf right now. You know who you are.

So this notepad isn’t for everyone? Absolutely not. It has a reason to exist, which needs to match your reason to buy it. My reason is that I love Midori, and I love how my handwriting looks on these wide lines and wide margins. Why are the margins designed this way? To make the words in the center of the page stand out. I love the visual it provides.

It’s a large visual, too, with the paper size outside of the normal A5 boundaries. It sits at a similar 210 mm tall, but is 168 mm wide, 20 mm wider than standard. I have no idea why, but it will be wider than A5 envelopes for mailing.

Being a Midori product, my expectation is that will handle every pen, nib, ink type, and pencil I throw at it with ease. It did. It’s not the elite fountain pen ink shader or sheener that paper designed for those characteristics will show, but it shows plenty. All of my currently inked pens performed well on the page, with no feathering, bleed, or show through. Gel ink, rollerball, ballpoint, and pencil all worked great as well.

The only negative I ever list with Midori is its stock cream-colored paper for those preferring a stark white page. I like the cream, and don’t find that it takes away from my ink colors enough to take away from all of the other great features.

Another great feature? The price. This Midori Letter Pad is $8 for 50 sheets. That’s very fair, and in line with the full Midori lineup. That said, this is a specialty product, and if you write multi-page letters with one line per line, and one side of the page, you could work through one of these pads quickly. If you have smaller handwriting, you could fit two handwritten lines between the lines, which is something I may try.

Midori Letter Pads are something you may consider trying, if it fits your needs. Like I said, they have a few specific tasks where they will shine, and aren’t a big commitment. Plus, they are Midori. It doesn’t get much better than that in the world of paper.

(Vanness Pens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on June 5, 2023 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Midori, Letter Writing, Notebook Reviews.

Endless Recorder A5 Notebook Regalia Paper Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

For all the A5 notebooks I already have in my stash, I'm sometimes a little confused as to why I still have the desire to purchase more of what is essentially the same notebook. Despite having the same size and similar specs, they all feel and act different! That's part of the joy that stationery provides. But just because a notebook uses the tried-and-true A5 dimensions, doesn't mean it will be a great notebook in practice.

The Endless Recorder A5 notebook is a sleek looking book that borrows from the aesthetic language that Moleskine made famous decades ago. It's a simple hardcover notebook with a pocket on the inside back cover, an elastic strap to keep it closed, and a couple of bookmark ribbons for keeping your place. It even has a couple of index pages at the front, and every page is clearly numbered in the bottom outside corner of each page. So far, I could be describing any number of notebooks you could buy today. What sets the Recorder apart from the rest?

Like so many notebooks, the answer to that question is: the paper. The Recorder uses an 80gsm paper that Endless have coined "Regalia." It's a smooth, white paper that feels great to write on. It's a little on the "too smooth" side for me, which means the paper doesn't provide as much grit or tactile feedback on the writing instrument I'm using. It's not bad, and I get used to the unique smoothness the more I use it. The dot grid pattern on my unit is exactly what I expect — it's a light gray ink and spaced well.

With the fountain pens I used on this paper, they all behaved well when writing. The colors were bright and the ink was sharp, with no feathering in sight. This is great since the marketing tout this paper as one that won't bleed or feather. Show through on the back of the page is also minimal, which isn't always the case with paper that has an 80gsm density.

On top of all that, this paper is acid free, which means your writings and doodles should last as long as the paper. In my first few writing sessions, I was happy with how the paper was performing. But then I started noticing something — it was really easy to smudge if I wasn't careful about where I put my fingers or hands while writing.

As I started noticing more and more smudges, I became more curious. Once I was focused on it, I realized that every fountain pen ink I used on this paper took a really long time to dry to a point that it resisted smudging. Even then, some inks seem to smudge even after they look completely dry. Interesting.

After a little more testing, I discovered that other pens produced similar results. Gel ink, rollerball ink, and some ballpoint inks all smudged slightly if you rubbed over them with your finger or hand. Not great! Whatever coating they use to make the paper ultra smooth has a terrible side effect: super long dry times.

This was a bummer because I realized that my writing style is the best case scenario. If you're left handed, this paper is a non-starter. I was even more bummed when I came back to a page that I had written 24 hours before and confirmed that it was still extremely easy to smudge if I lightly dragged a finger over it. Wow.

To add insult to injury, the marketing on the packaging for this notebook states "World's most ink-friendly notebook." I get that marketing materials have a certain level of hyperbole — that's just how the industry works. But in this case, it's not even in the best tier of ink-friendly papers. With the way it prevents ink from fully drying, this notebook goes straight to bottom of the list for me. I'd pick up a Moleskine before this one because at least the Moleskine would let my ink dry in a reasonable amount of time (albeit with lots of feathering and show-through!).

The Recorder is available in several colors and paper ruling styles for $23.50. That's a pretty average price for the hardcover A5 notebook category, so that makes it incredibly easy to say you shouldn't consider this notebook. Look at Leuchtturm1917, Rhodia, Lamy, Clairefontaine, or any number of more established paper brands before you consider this notebook. I wanted to like the Endless Recorder because of its sleek design and cool color options, but the paper was ultimately a deal-breaker for me.

(Goldspot provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on May 3, 2023 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Endless Notebook, Notebook Reviews.

Itoya Profolio Oasis A5 Notebook Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

Always on the lookout for new notebooks, I couldn't pass up the Itoya Profolio Oasis in Wintergreen and A5. It borrows some aesthetics from other Japanese paper brands, but how does it perform for the price?

The exterior of the notebook is clean and simple. The wintergreen color of mine provides a nice pop of color on an otherwise boring desk. The covers are thin and flexible, but I worry they won't provide much protection in a bag with other items. The corners are square, which are just begging to get bent over in no time, but it makes the notebook look really crispy and clean.

The notebook is stitched very cleanly and has black tape covering the spine for additional protection and strength. The notebook really resists laying flat at first, but it breaks in really quickly. Despite this, it also has no trouble staying closed when it's laying on a desk. This is somewhat unexpected for a notebook with a stiff spine and really lightweight covers, but I'll take it.

Moving inside the notebook, there's nothing extra included between the covers. There are 80 sheets of lightweight paper, and no extra pages for organization or labeling. The inside front cover has some marketing information, but it's incredibly difficult to read in my copy because the light gray ink disappears against the wintergreen cover. It provides some helpful hints on how to use the notebook and it's unique ruling system. Aside from that, the pages aren't numbered, but they do include a spot at the top for a title and date. The paper is really smooth and feels like 80gsm in weight.

Similar to the Lamy notebooks I've been using recently, the Oasis also features a unique ruling system that combines lines, grids, and even dots to create a lightweight "everything" rule that seems to work well. I'll admit, it looks busy when the page is blank, but the ink is light enough that it easily gets out of your way once you start writing. The additional structure is useful if you want to create neat sections on the page, but they easily disappear when writing. I know that this rule format won't appeal to everyone, and that's cool. It's a cool system and I'm glad to see more stationery makers try it out. As long as there are plenty of options available for everyone, I have no problem with creating notebooks with quirky, uncommon rule formats! If you happen to enjoy it or use it for a specific purpose, that's reason enough to manufacture and sell a product like this.

While the paper is smooth and lightweight, it doesn't stand up to wet fountain pens very well. The fountain pen marks easily showed through on the back of the page — making it unusable — but Waterman's Mysterious Blue bled through the back of the page and onto the front of the next page! I've never had any problems with Mysterious Blue in the past, so this definitely surprised me. In the future, I won't be using any fountain pens in this notebook without testing them out on a scrap page first.

Luckily, the paper handled other types of pens, ink, and graphite superbly. It's a smooth paper with just a slight amount of tooth to provide some feedback and friction for controlling your writing instrument, and I've really enjoyed using it.

If you're in the market to try a somewhat uncommon ruling in a sharp notebook, the Oasis is a fantastic option. At $9 for the A5 size, it's a pretty good value for what you get. It's utilitarian but still has some style and personality, but it does have some weaknesses with certain ink/nib combos you'll have to watch out for. The ruling format is interesting and well-executed. For the price, you can try one of these notebooks to see if you like the format — if it's not for you, you haven't lost much money to find out.

And if the Wintergreen cover or A5 isn't what you want, there are several other color and size options available as well. It's not for everyone, but if it's intriguing to you, don't hesitate to try it out!

(Goldspot provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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