Staples Arc Line

[egretsrus]

After reading about these successors to Rolla products, I went into Staples to explore. As I'd read on FPN, these are not on the shelves yet in most stores, but staff are very kind about climbing up ladders and pulling down what they find. I got the smaller leather cover (holds 51/2" x 8" paper, and fifty sheets are included. It cost $9.99! If you've ever bought a Circa cover from Levenger, this will make you swoon. It's beautifully made and has a leather-and-elastic pen loop on the side. Inside front cover are slits and a flap for cards, etc. I highly recommend the plastic section dividers -- nice colors and heavyweight. They also had a letter-size black leather holder, but for some reason it just looked ginormous to me. The notebook is pretty stuffed with the fifty pages and dividers, so I'm thinking larger discs might enable you to pack more pages in. Paper is fp friendly and your old Rolla paper will fit.

Hope this helps!

Lesley

[SheilaM]

Thanks for the update. I'm going to give it another try next weekend, since I had no luck at all the other day.

 

Nice to know you like the leather cover; I've never bought the Levenger one because it was more than I wanted to spend for it. $9.99 seems like a steal!

[jaqcp]

Looks like 20% off entire Arc line at Staples web site http://www.staples.com/office/supplies/StaplesSearch?searchkey=arc&storeId=10001&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&fromUrl=home through Jan 15.

[wallylynn]

20% off of $10! Gotta get me one of those. Too bad paper punches seem to be really expensive.

[kenmc]

I was a little skeptical of the Arc when I saw how cheap (less expensive) it was when I last visited the store. But thought I would buy about ten bucks worth of stuff - the 5 7/8" x 8 1/2" size - paper, task pads, etc. all at a buck 99 a pop. I like it! Just my two bits but I think Levenger will either have to "get right" with their price on "Circa" or drop the line. I found the paper to be much more FP friendly than Circa! And, to my surprise, it fits my circa stuff. Now I know how good it is, I'll be buying some 8.5 X 11.

[markc]

I have to agree! The Staples Arc paper is significantly better than the staples paper. The only problem with the Arc is that they take nearly an inch of space at the bottom of the larger pages for their name and the box in all of the lines. If Arc reproduced the Cornell Method note taking format for their pages using the entire sheet like Levenger, they would have a complete winner.

 

The other problem is that Staples isn't selling a punch (yet?) so we're kind of stuck buying the nearly $70 Circa punch.

 

Also, staples isn't selling the rings separately. Though, funny enough, the large notebook with 11 rings is only $14.. Not much less than the Levenger ring packs.

[matt611]

Any chance of some photos please?

 

M

[egretsrus]

A main reason I'm enjoying the Arc so much more than the Circa (aside from a HUGE difference in price) is that the rings are just a little bit thicker so the annoying (to me) wiggling of my Circa notebooks doesn't happen. The whole structure is very stable. I do wish the Arc could hold more pages, but that's a small complaint.

Lesley

[CatBookMom]

Earlier in this discussion, someone mentioned that there's a line of products called Rollabind. I Googled them and found that they have 2 inexpensive punches, one $13, the other $30. Does anyone who has these punches find that they work with Staples' new ARC products? Under $30 is a price I can live with, unlike the $70 at Levenger's for their Circa punch. And the Rollabind site says there's free shipping in February!

[Silvermink]

Huh. I'm swimming in stationery (just bought a couple more Rhodia pad covers and some more dotPads) but I'm nonetheless tempted to check this out.

[caligatia]

Earlier in this discussion, someone mentioned that there's a line of products called Rollabind. I Googled them and found that they have 2 inexpensive punches, one $13, the other $30. Does anyone who has these punches find that they work with Staples' new ARC products? Under $30 is a price I can live with, unlike the $70 at Levenger's for their Circa punch. And the Rollabind site says there's free shipping in February!

 

Fair warning: Rollabind has the lousiest shipping times and customer service ever. I just cancelled my order for a portable punch yesterday because it's backordered by two weeks and nobody told me for the week before that. I decided I'd rather spend the extra $10 and get the Levenger punch so that way I'll have a punch sometime this month. (Insert lots of swearing here)

[CatBookMom]

Earlier in this discussion, someone mentioned that there's a line of products called Rollabind. I Googled them and found that they have 2 inexpensive punches, one $13, the other $30. Does anyone who has these punches find that they work with Staples' new ARC products? Under $30 is a price I can live with, unlike the $70 at Levenger's for their Circa punch. And the Rollabind site says there's free shipping in February!

 

Fair warning: Rollabind has the lousiest shipping times and customer service ever. I just cancelled my order for a portable punch yesterday because it's backordered by two weeks and nobody told me for the week before that. I decided I'd rather spend the extra $10 and get the Levenger punch so that way I'll have a punch sometime this month. (Insert lots of swearing here)

 

 

Wow, that's saying a lot. I understand the frustration completely; been there, though not with that vendor. Guess I'll go check out Levenger. You're right about the value of 3+ weeks of non-response and non-delivery; thanks for the quick response/warning.

 

 

ETA: Just placed my order for the Levenger punch. Managed not to find anything else to buy, but it was tough.

Edited February 3, 2011 by CatBookMom

[thrage1]

Does the levenger punch fit the arc notebook

[caligatia]

Thrage: Yes.

 

I just received my leather letter-size notebook from Staples. It's very well-constructed for the price. I'm amazed -- I only ordered it yesterday morning! :clap1:

[Jaco]

What a pity they are not available Down Under...... It sounds good!

[ClassicHippie]

On their Facebook page, Staples said they'll have different size rings this Spring and a paper punch later this year. I love the Arc system!

[funkypeanut]

I noticed that in the pics of the plastic covers, there is a green cover that isn't for sale on the website. Has anyone seen this cover in the stores? I'm planning a run to Staples (~30 mins away) next weekend to look at these up close and personal. I've been coveting the Levenger leather covers for months now but couldn't justify the price. I wish that Staples had a red cover, but I think I'll settle for the brown. I've been a Circa addict for a couple of years now, and I know that people here have complained about the L paper not being FP friendly, but I've been using the Platinum Preppy with it and haven't had bleedthrough trouble. I did, though, with my Sheaffer, but it's more of a wet writer. Someone on the forum said that the Staples paper was comparable to the Levenger but more shiny, and I'm wondering whether it will bleed through, too.

 

And I'm glad that Staples is going to offer a punch. That's something else that I've been drooling over at Levenger but haven't been able to bring myself to order. :clap1:

 

Edited for spelling because with an English degree I should know the difference between "with" and "wish."

Edited February 5, 2011 by funkypeanut

[darkink]

I saw the green cover in the store when I picked up my Arc system earlier this week. I'm really enjoying mine, but I do wish the paper was a little higher quality. There's no bleed through for me(using an M nib), but it is slower to dry than other paper I've used.

 

I hope Staples comes out with their punch soon and it's a decent price. I'll probably switch over to an HP paper at that point.

 

I would still recommend getting the arc system because it is very convenient, looks great, the paper is decent, and it has good customization options, which should become more plentiful in the future.

[thrage1]

For me the arc paper doesn't feather with really wet pens but there is definite show through

[mooshi]

Did the prices go up? Or are they different depending on location? I got my junior size one a while back for $5.99 and the letter sized one for $10.99.