After reading several reviews finding fault, I checked 4 of the notebooks I have but not yet opened and both that I am using now. None have any flaw in the grid ink, paper , or cover. I mostly write with Pilot 0.3mm gel ink pens, and 0.3 to 0.5mm mechanical pencils. I switched and bought these notebooks to replace Moleskin notebooks. The pen and pencil write just as well. Gel ink does not smear at all if allowed to dry 1 second. I checked writing with 0.3mm gel ink pen on a Moleskin and it to smears if wiped with a finger immediately. The Miliko paper is thicker than Daytimer pages, and the feel of the paper is not as smooth as the Daytimer. A so-what factor for me. Daytimer paper is exceptional quality.
Just now, I tried 3 different highlighters and 10 other kinds of pens that were laying around. I buy all my writing things during visits to Japan because they make the best writing instruments and they are relatively inexpensive. They are a mix of gel and regular ink and ball sizes. I found no fault with how any of them wrote on the notebook paper. The square punch holes all look uniform. When writing, the notebook lies flat on the table, a useful improvement over the Moleskin. At meetings, I generally fold the front cover and written pages all the way around beside the back cover, to make notes. Something else that can't be done with a Moleskin. I did find that 2 of the notebooks had 1 slightly bent pair of rings half way up the spiral. This did not interfere with operation, but I just bent them back to look like the others, anyway. And that they use pairs of wire in the spiral is another quality attribute.
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Relatively good deal for the money, some issues with bleeding through and ghosting, though
I recently took up bullet journaling and got these notebooks as a low-cost alternative as a just-in-case (i.e. I don't wanna sink $25 on one fancy notebook if it turns out this method of planning/journaling isn't right for me.)Pros:To be fair, it's a nice starter/alternative if you're comparing the price difference between this and a Leuchtturm or Moleskine equivalent. $12 for 2 ok notebooks vs. $13-25+ for 1 nice notebook isn't a bad dealspiral bound so if you, like me, like to write in a notebook with the opposite cover flipped around to the back, you can do thatCovers are see-through so if you want to do some drawings/designs on the front and/or back pages you can see that through the cover when it's2 in 1 purchase which makes the individual notebooks less than $7 eachCons:No indexPages not numberedIssues with bleeding and ghostingNo closureNo bookmarksAs a more direct comparison on prices of similar/popular notebooks -Miliko Spiral bound Dot Grid (the notebook I'm reviewing here) - $13 here on Amazon2 notebooksplastic transparent hardcoverno index, 160 unnumbered pages per notebook (320 for both) (80 sheets for one, 160 sheets for both)80 gsm paper weight, A5 size (5.75” x 8.25” pages)No bookmark, closure, pocket or pen holderaverage rating on Amazon: 4.5/5 starsMoleskine Classic Colored Notebook, Large, Dotted, Underwater Blue, Soft Cover (5 x 8.25) - $171 notebookSolid color softcoverno index, 192 unnumbered pages (96 sheets)1 ribbon bookmark, pocket, elastic closure, no pen holder70 gsm, 5” x 8 1/4"4.5/5 starsLeuchtturm1917 Medium Size Hardcover A5 Notebook - Dotted Pages - Black - $201 notebookSolid Color hardcoverindex laid out for you in the front, 8 perforated pages in the back, 249 dot-grid pages (125 sheets) which come pre-numbered2 ribbon bookmarks, 1 pocket and elastic closure + some useful stickers included, no pen holder80 gsm, A5 4.5/5 starsDingbats Wildlife Medium A5+ (6.3 x 8.5) Hardcover Notebook - PU Leather, Micro-Perforated 100gsm Cream Pages, Inner Pocket, Elastic Closure, Pen Holder, Bookmark (Dot Grid, Green Deer) - $211 notebookLeather hardcoverno index, all 192 unnumbered pages (96 sheets) are perforated, pages have small designs at the bottom1 bookmark, pocket, elastic closure, and pen holder100 gsm, A54.5/5 starsThe pages in this notebook experience a fair amount of bleed-through. If a pen, highlighter or marker doesn't bleed through the page, it usually at least ghosts.I use a variety of utensils and have attached some photos of my Utensils and a quick test on the notebook's paper, including the front and back of the pages + plus the page directly following the test page.Utensils I use regularly in this notebook/tested in the attached photos:Pentel R.S.V.P. Fine BlackPentel Sunburst Gel Metallics Med Purple, Gold, and SilverSakura Pigma Micron Archival Ink Fine Liners 02, 01 BlackSakura Pigma Micron Archival Ink Fine Liners 05 PurpleUni-ball Signo Micro 207 BlackUni-ball Signo 207 PurpleUni-ball Signo BLX Infusion 207 PurpleUni-ball Signo 207 (regular) BlackPaper Mate InkJoy 1.0 M Black, Orange, GreenFull Size Crayola Broadline Markers Black, Tropical Violet, VioletCrayola Super Tip Markers Black, Light Purple, VioletStabillo Boss Pastel Highlighter set
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RJZ
Looks like you are writing straight across the page without showing any lines
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As described, great quality
Reviewed in Canada on May 20, 2021
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Reviewed in Canada on May 20, 2021
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