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115 of 117 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best PDA I've had!, September 14, 2008
Moleskine Ruled Notebook
In the course of my working life I spent several years as a computer tech, and have consequently learned a healthy caution regarding the frailty of electronic devices. The Pocket Moleskine has been the most reliable PDA I've tried. Compact enough to fit in any pants pocket, the covers are stiff enough to provide a firm, stable writing surface even when standing and yet still pliable enough to be comfortable even in a back pocket. A previous reviewer said he expected a notebook "the size of a DVD case". Two points in response: how many DVD-case-sized pockets do you have, and why didn't you order the larger Moleskine? He also complained that he could only get one sentence on a page in his Moleskine. my own handwriting is of a normal size, and a quick check of my most-recently filled Moleskine shows an average of 130 words to the page.
The Moleskine is filled with good, smooth acid-free paper that can take a wide variety of inks without smearing, discoloring, or bleeding through. The expanding pocket is well-secured and can hold a surprising quantity of loose notes, receipts, business cards, etc. The books themselves are well constructed and durable; mine are exposed to hot, humid conditions and hold up to daily carry and use.
The other reviewer pointed out the price: certainly these are not 79-cent Office Max specials, but for the serious writer, or a person who must record important information through the course of a day and retain it legibly for more than a week, the price is worth it. One hint to extend the capacity of your Moleskine: use the bound pages for things you want to permanently record, and keep Post-It notes inside the covers to jot down quick memoranda. I use the Post-Its for such things as the titles of books or movies I want to research. (Think of the Post-Its as expandable memory for your PDA!)
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38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A nifty little notebook., September 16, 2008
Don't let the name fool you: this is the pocket-sized Moleskine, which is about 5.5 by 3.5 inches. If you're looking for something bigger, the "large" Moleskine, at approximately 8 by 5 inches, might be the one you want. (Updated 09/29/09: The item title now has the word "pocket" in it, so I'm thinking/hoping that the misunderstandings are pretty much over with.)
I currently own three of these pocket notebooks, having gotten my first one back in early 2005. Now don't get me wrong -- I adore Moleskines, but there are some things you should be aware of. The paper, for one, isn't that thick. I love it and I love the texture (and the color), but be warned that it might not take very well to certain pens, especially ones that have more liquidy ink, such as fountain pens.
The binding on two of mine have also become loose, with moderate use over a decent period of time. I usually write in pencil, so the bleeding through the paper is not an issue for me. This Moleskine would certainly get a 5/5 from me if the binding could just hold up. Instead, the threads are loose, and my pages are coming out. Maybe I got some defective ones -- I don't know. But I bought them separately and at different times. I can't tell you much more than that, so you decide for yourself.
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41 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I'm starting to believe..., July 4, 2006
I first encountered Moleskine notebooks in a bookstore in London this spring, and what lodged in my memory was their marketing claim to be "the legendary notebook of Hemingway," et cetera. I have since learned from various sources that those claims may be a touch exaggerated. But now that I own one myself and am starting to make daily use of it, I'm beginning to see, at least, why Moleskine notebooks have so many fans.
For more than ten years, I've used a calendar/day planner/all-your-information-in-one-place system that isn't just a notebook but has an entire philosophy about how you're supposed to live your life tied into it. I never bought into that aspect of the company, but have grown used to having one reference containing all that stuff between two covers, and with a place for a pen besides. Going from that to a Moleskine, with its one small pocket in the back and no place to put a writing instrument, is definitely a switch. It's the part of the change I'm least sure about. On the other hand, the Moleskine definitely wins for portability, ease of use, style, and handiness-to-have-around in case of brainstorms.
So I'm still not completely sold that this is the best of all possible notebooks. But it's definitely a good one, and I do appreciate both the attractiveness of the design and the quality of the construction. Sure, you can get a serviceable notebook for about a tenth of the price, and a whole "lifestyle system," updated annually, for quite a bit more. It's all a matter of taste, and my taste is starting to run in this direction.
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