Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Giveaway at Notebook Stories
Head over to Notebook Stories to enter a giveaway - and read a great review - of Wild & Wolf's Qwerty journals!
Monday, January 2, 2012
Review: Piccadilly Essential Medium Notebook - Ruled
This is a review of the Piccadilly Essential ruled notebook in medium.
Features:
- Hard cover
- 240 pages
- Off-white page color
- 80 GSM wood-free, acid-free
I don’t really need to review this notebook because there are several reviews out there already and some that even compare the Piccadilly to the Moleskines. I just wanted to though because I had a problem with my one and only Piccadilly being poorly put together! But it's so cheap so it's hard to complain.
The Piccadilly notebook is very similar to Moleskines - a black cover, an elastic closure, a pocket on the back cover, and it is available in plain, graphed, or ruled paper. However, the Piccadilly has a nice satin bookmarker!
The one I picked up has a new soft type cover that is flexible but not supple. It is just stiff enough that it gives some structure to the notebook but is not thick and hard like the typical hardcover notebooks. It is smooth and somewhat matte and has the Piccadilly logo stamped on the back cover.
The medium notebook is nice and portable. Big enough that it’s easy to write in but not too big to be tucked into a purse or backpack without adding considerable weight.
Usually, with notebooks that are targeted to the general population (and not insane fountain pen lovers such as myself), one expects the paper to be the thing that is only so-so. Surprisingly, I found the paper to be smooth and acceptable. Most gel ink pens only showed through a little bit, and did not bleed through, with the exception of the Sakura IdentiPen Dual.
Fountain pens in any nib size did bleed through, especially in the swabbed areas. This is not surprising and of course, this notebook is not intended for fountain pen use. But then, the inks performed decently on this paper so if you don’t mind skipping the page behind your fountain pen writing, the paper is actually pretty decent. Most of my inks did not feather at all. Not bad, Piccadilly, not bad.
As is noted by No Pen Intended, since Borders has gone under, a complaint is Piccadilly’s limited availability. I searched and searched to find an active online retailer to share. How are people supposed to buy things when they can’t even find it? Hmph. Even the Piccadilly site has limited stock right now.
Given that these notebooks are infamously cheap, I shouldn’t complain too much. That said, I am disappointed at the quality of construction of this one. I unwrapped it from the plastic, opened it and had written in just two pages with fountain pens when I noticed that the front cover was separating from the cardboard it was attached to.
And then the cats wouldn’t stop hanging around and watching the notebook and I couldn’t figure out why. I always tuck the bookmark out of the way so they can’t spot it and chew on it. But they were staring at the elastic closure which is attached to the back cover. The frayed end of this one was sticking out of the bottom of the back cover. But again - they’re so cheap so it’s a toss up. I like pretty, put together notebooks but that’s just me and I’m a brat that way.
Similar reviews you should check out:
No Pen Intended
tlaine via Fountain Pen Network
Price
Piccadilly - $2.99 for small
$4.99 for medium
$6.99 for large
Overall
The price is great, hands down. Especially when compared to a very similar product by Moleskine, but the quality is a bit shoddy in my humble opinion. Unfortunately, I use notebooks for journalling and want them to last, and my only experience with these are with the notebook falling apart after being used only a few times. I’m disappointed but then, if I wasn’t using it for keeping forever, it would be great, maybe for practicing calligraphy or sketches in which it would probably get pretty beat up anyway. I wouldn’t use them for everything but they are a great price for scribbling notes and doodling in.
- Hard cover
- 240 pages
- Off-white page color
- 80 GSM wood-free, acid-free
The Piccadilly notebook is very similar to Moleskines - a black cover, an elastic closure, a pocket on the back cover, and it is available in plain, graphed, or ruled paper. However, the Piccadilly has a nice satin bookmarker!
The medium notebook is nice and portable. Big enough that it’s easy to write in but not too big to be tucked into a purse or backpack without adding considerable weight.
Usually, with notebooks that are targeted to the general population (and not insane fountain pen lovers such as myself), one expects the paper to be the thing that is only so-so. Surprisingly, I found the paper to be smooth and acceptable. Most gel ink pens only showed through a little bit, and did not bleed through, with the exception of the Sakura IdentiPen Dual.
Fountain pens in any nib size did bleed through, especially in the swabbed areas. This is not surprising and of course, this notebook is not intended for fountain pen use. But then, the inks performed decently on this paper so if you don’t mind skipping the page behind your fountain pen writing, the paper is actually pretty decent. Most of my inks did not feather at all. Not bad, Piccadilly, not bad.
Given that these notebooks are infamously cheap, I shouldn’t complain too much. That said, I am disappointed at the quality of construction of this one. I unwrapped it from the plastic, opened it and had written in just two pages with fountain pens when I noticed that the front cover was separating from the cardboard it was attached to.
No Pen Intended
tlaine via Fountain Pen Network
Price
Piccadilly - $2.99 for small
$4.99 for medium
$6.99 for large
Overall
The price is great, hands down. Especially when compared to a very similar product by Moleskine, but the quality is a bit shoddy in my humble opinion. Unfortunately, I use notebooks for journalling and want them to last, and my only experience with these are with the notebook falling apart after being used only a few times. I’m disappointed but then, if I wasn’t using it for keeping forever, it would be great, maybe for practicing calligraphy or sketches in which it would probably get pretty beat up anyway. I wouldn’t use them for everything but they are a great price for scribbling notes and doodling in.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Shoplet.com Review: Swingline SmartTouch Stapler & Swingline S.F. 4 Premium Chisel Point Staples
This is a review of the Swingline SmartTouch Stapler and Swingline S.F. 4 Premium Chisel Point Staples. These office supplies were sent for review by Shoplet.
The Stapler - $14.09 at Shoplet
What Do I Like?
The first office supply I am reviewing for Shoplet is the Swingline SmartTouch Stapler is a sleek, ergonomic stapler designed to reduce the effort necessary to staple up to 25 pages together. It is black metal with grey soft touch accents. The shape lends itself to being very comfortable to hold and there is a little indent on the bottom for your thumb to rest and remain securely in place while stapling. While you could survive without this feature, it is surprisingly enjoyable if you’re stapling a lot of pages!
While it is easy to hold in one hand, it has a longer design than the classic stapler. With this, it also has a good weight to it. While lighter products are often appealing, having a light desk stapler often means more work for you, shoddy quality, and a noisy mechanism. The weight of the stapler allows it to sit nicely on your desk. You can even staple while it’s just sitting there! Yessir, that means you don’t even have to hold it. You can just stick those papers in there and touch the top lightly to staple.
The QuickLoad™ reloading mechanism is located in the front. With a pop of the button at the back, the staple tray pops out and you can just put in more staples. And then it slides back into place. I far prefer this to the common style of opening the staple body up to refill, and then pushing it back together. I was always so bad at this and would close it too hard and would end up stapling myself. Therefore, this front reload is way better and holds a full strip of staples!
This stapler can handle 25 sheets at a time, which is pretty impressive. I tested it out using heavy Hewlett-Packard paper - this is very thick paper - and I was surprised at how little effort it took. Usually, I’d have to lean over the stapler and put some weight into it but it was a breeze with the SmartTouch stapler. Even with 25 pages, the staple glides through the paper and folds snugly on the other side so it won’t catch your fingers (and cut them). Furthermore, the stapling action is very quiet. I even doubled the pages to 50 just to see what would happen. It still took very little effort to staple the pages but the staple didn't make it all the way through because the tails are too short.
In terms of safety (yes, some staplers can be hazardous), the design of the stapler offers some safety to little fingers (or even my own fingers). The stapling mechanism is very close to the base so it would be difficult to squish a finger in there and accidentally staple yourself. Trust me, I tried.
Be aware that, given its size, this stapler is not ideal for portability. It is meant to be a desk stapler and it will perform that duty as I have experienced if you use it with these staples.
What Don't I Like?
My only complaint is that I wish there could be some more recycled materials in the product. Most of the body is metal, and the soft touch appears to be a soft rubber-type material. The only plastic is on the base of the staple mechanism and the reload button at the back but even if these parts were recycled plastic, with many staplers being made and sold, it would make a small difference.
The Staples - $2.02 at Shoplet
These premium chisel point refill staples for the Swingline SmartTouch Stapler is the other office supply I am reviewing for Shoplet. They comes in a nifty, handy reusable plastic box with a hinged lid. It holds 5,000 staples in strips of 210. The box looks good and is simply made so it should last you pretty long without anything breaking. The chisel point design helps the staples glide through paper easier and reduces the likelihood of jamming. These premium staples combined with the great design of the SmartTouch stapler means you’ll have a very jam-free experience!
What Don't I Like?
Again, my only complaint with the Swingline S.F. 4 Premium Chisel Point Staples refill box is that the plastic box could be made of recycled plastic, which would be awesome and once again, would help reduce the amount of new plastic made (and thus, less plastic ending up in landfills).
Overall
I was very pleased with the results of this stapler when used with these staples. You won't have to struggle with the stapler to get it through 25 pages and it's very quiet and looks cool. After stapling all evening, I have yet to encounter jamming! Given the design of the reload mechanism, I would say it's important to use the Swingline S.F. 4 Premium Chisel Point staples to reduce occurrence of jamming and to ensure you have an effortless experience. This may be a deterrent to some folks. Again, the Swingline SmartTouch Stapler can be found at Shoplet and you’ll definitely want to pick up some of these Swingline S.F. 4 Premium Chisel Point Staples to go with it - they can also be found at Shoplet! Shoplet offers this stapler and staples at a competitive price to places such as OfficeDepot and they even have bulk discounts.
And yes, by owning this, that means you will be owning the same brand of stapler that Milton from Office Space covets so greatly.
Check out another review of these products at Pen Paper Inks...Whatever!
Disclaimer and reminder: These office supplies were sent for review by Shoplet. I was not paid to write this review, but I do get to keep these cool products.
The Stapler - $14.09 at Shoplet
The first office supply I am reviewing for Shoplet is the Swingline SmartTouch Stapler is a sleek, ergonomic stapler designed to reduce the effort necessary to staple up to 25 pages together. It is black metal with grey soft touch accents. The shape lends itself to being very comfortable to hold and there is a little indent on the bottom for your thumb to rest and remain securely in place while stapling. While you could survive without this feature, it is surprisingly enjoyable if you’re stapling a lot of pages!
Be aware that, given its size, this stapler is not ideal for portability. It is meant to be a desk stapler and it will perform that duty as I have experienced if you use it with these staples.
My only complaint is that I wish there could be some more recycled materials in the product. Most of the body is metal, and the soft touch appears to be a soft rubber-type material. The only plastic is on the base of the staple mechanism and the reload button at the back but even if these parts were recycled plastic, with many staplers being made and sold, it would make a small difference.
The Staples - $2.02 at Shoplet
What Do I Like?
These premium chisel point refill staples for the Swingline SmartTouch Stapler is the other office supply I am reviewing for Shoplet. They comes in a nifty, handy reusable plastic box with a hinged lid. It holds 5,000 staples in strips of 210. The box looks good and is simply made so it should last you pretty long without anything breaking. The chisel point design helps the staples glide through paper easier and reduces the likelihood of jamming. These premium staples combined with the great design of the SmartTouch stapler means you’ll have a very jam-free experience!
Again, my only complaint with the Swingline S.F. 4 Premium Chisel Point Staples refill box is that the plastic box could be made of recycled plastic, which would be awesome and once again, would help reduce the amount of new plastic made (and thus, less plastic ending up in landfills).
Overall
I was very pleased with the results of this stapler when used with these staples. You won't have to struggle with the stapler to get it through 25 pages and it's very quiet and looks cool. After stapling all evening, I have yet to encounter jamming! Given the design of the reload mechanism, I would say it's important to use the Swingline S.F. 4 Premium Chisel Point staples to reduce occurrence of jamming and to ensure you have an effortless experience. This may be a deterrent to some folks. Again, the Swingline SmartTouch Stapler can be found at Shoplet and you’ll definitely want to pick up some of these Swingline S.F. 4 Premium Chisel Point Staples to go with it - they can also be found at Shoplet! Shoplet offers this stapler and staples at a competitive price to places such as OfficeDepot and they even have bulk discounts.
And yes, by owning this, that means you will be owning the same brand of stapler that Milton from Office Space covets so greatly.
Check out another review of these products at Pen Paper Inks...Whatever!
Disclaimer and reminder: These office supplies were sent for review by Shoplet. I was not paid to write this review, but I do get to keep these cool products.
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