Double Review: Quo Vadis Habana and Rhobia Webnotebook

[Okami]

Please see the full review with links and photos here: Double Review: Quo Vadis Habana and Rhobia Webnotebook. Following is the text of the blog post:

 

 

 

Karen Doherty from Exaclair, Inc. was kindly giving away 15 Habana notebooks for review over at the QuoVadis Blog (if you don't follow you should). Needless to say I jumped at the chance since this is one of the notebooks that I had not yet tried.

 

Since I purchased a Rhodia Webnotebook, now known as the Webbie, a few months ago and have been meaning to compose a review on it, this has spurred me to combine the reviews and post on both of these products.

 

Both of these are the Large and as you can see the Habana is quite a bit larger than the Webbie, while the Webbie is thicker.

 

The Quo Vadis Habana

 

From the Exaclair Website:

 

"What's special about this notebook?

 

Hard cover, leather look & feel

Inside pocket for notes, cards

Extra white, super smooth ruled paper by Clairefontaine

PEFC-certified

Acid-free & pH neutral

Elegant round corners

Elastic closure

Discreet embossed logo

Slim & compact

 

Available in two sizes:

 

Large Notebooks

6 1/4 x 9 1/4"

90 g paper

80 sheets

 

Pocket Notebooks

4 x 6 3/8"

64 g paper

96 sheets

 

Contemporary colors: Black, Blue, Red and Taupe"

 

The Habana has bright white smooth paper, which I love, and it is lightly lined. I prefer unlined notebooks as journals but I can live with lines when the notebook has high quality paper and construction.

 

Although the description says that the cover is hard, I find it to be fairly flexible. It's not going to fold, but the flexibility makes it comfortable in my hands. I know that's not a very good description, but I don't know how else to say it.

 

When open The Habana lies very flat, which is a big plus for a lot of users, I'm not quite so particular but it is nice.

 

The back cover has a nice big pocket to store loose papers, notes, photos, etc. Because of the size of this notebook this pocket will probably be more useful than the pocket on many of the smaller notebooks.

 

It's not mentioned in the description but the Habana does have a ribbon marker.

____________________________________

The Rhodia Webnotebook (The Webbie)

 

From the Exaclair website:

 

"Characteristics :

 

•Italian leatherette hard cover

•90 g ivory Clairefontaine paper

•Expanding pocket

•Elastic closure

•Bookmark

•Round corners"

 

In addition, The Webbie is available in two sizes, A5(5½ x 8¼") and A6(3½ x 5½"). Both sizes contain 96 sheets of paper. The Webbie is only available in two colors, the trademark Rhodia Orange or Black.

 

The Webbie prominently displays the Rhodia logo front and center on the cover, much like their other products. It would be nice on a product of this quality if the logo were placed more discreetly, either smaller on the front lower corner or on the back.

 

The cover of the Webbie is very stiff and has no flexibility. The 96 sheets of ivory colored, lightly lined paper are smooth and wonderful to write on.

 

The spine on the Webbie is a little tighter than the Habana, but it also lays open very flat and the pocket on the inside back cover has plenty of room.

 

Okay, on to the most important information of the review, the writing part, click on either photo to enlarge.

 

As always, Clairefontainte paper provides a smooth writing surface with no feathering. It accepts even the broadest nibs with ease.

 

The paper does not have any bleed through and just a minimal amount of show through with the darker more saturated inks.

 

As usual an A++ perfomance and both notebooks meet the expected standards long established by Rhodia, QuoVadis and Clairefontaine.

 

If it came down to an ultimate decision between these two, for me I would choose the Habana. I like the Webbie very much, but I prefer the Habana's bright white paper and the feel of the semi-flexible cover. For quality, either is an extremely good choice and this preference is purely personal.

[Ghost Plane]

Have to concur. The Habana covers will also fold back on themselves.

[nigelg]

Can anyone confirm what paper the Rhodia Webnotebook contains? The Exaclair website as noted here says 90gsm Clairefontaine, but all the UK supplier websites I've seen, including The Writing Desk, say it is 80gsm and no mention of a Clairefontaine source. With the former it should be a winner, with the latter its just another notebook.

 

Nigel

[Deirdre]

The paper in the newer version is 90gsm, I personally wouldn't buy the 80gsm because so many people complained about it.

[jimhughes]

Nigel:

It is my understanding that the 80 gm paper books were D/C in the USA as there were a lot of paper quality not FP friendly issues. The USA has the 90 gm now, but I believe the UK and OZ only has 80 gm available. Perhaps you folks should squak for a bit of equality. Jim

[limesally]

Can anyone confirm what paper the Rhodia Webnotebook contains? The Exaclair website as noted here says 90gsm Clairefontaine, but all the UK supplier websites I've seen, including The Writing Desk, say it is 80gsm and no mention of a Clairefontaine source. With the former it should be a winner, with the latter its just another notebook.

 

Nigel

 

If you're in the UK, you are quite likely stuck with the 80g version unless you order it from the US. However, some people have indicated on my review thread here that the 80 g versions might still be floating around some US stores. If you do order it from a US retailer, make sure you have them check which one you you're getting sent. The difference between the two versions is significant.

[nigelg]

Thanks for the replies. I'll just have to be a bit careful when ordering.

 

Nigel