Canteo Test

December 10, 2009

I finally took the bait and bought one of the Canteo books from Nota Bene. I love this shop and buy from them whenever I need Rhodia notebooks. And being constantly in search of a Moleskine replacement, I finally got my chance to write in the Canteo book.

Problems with Moleskine:

- Paper is thin and inconsistent. Almost everything bleeds through and there is some feathering.

- Covers don't usually last through the whole book

- Elastic marker doesn't work well for holding pens, tends to wear out fast

- The hard books don't come in large sizes that I've ever seen

What's good about Moleskine:

- Paper is usually smooth, has a nice finish

- Comes in every combination you could want, grid, lined, plain

- Readily available

- Nice pocket in back

The Ultimate Book:

- Paper like Rhodia (my favorite), smooth finish that has great ink hold out

- Durable cover

- Available in grid, plain or lined

- Good closure strap that can hold a pen

- I can actually get one within the states

- Has a back pocket

- Comes in larger sizes like A4

In other words, just a few improvements over Moleskine and I'm happy.

With the Canteo, I am quite underwhelmed. While the paper was thicker, it was rough and unfinished. Almost any fountain pen ink or even a Pilot G2 Gel produced varying degrees of bleed through. The cover seems pretty good, but I'm not sure it's any better than the Moleskine. I do like it's dimensions. It's slightly wider than the Mole, producing a nice writing space. It comes with a cool set of metal tabs to mark you pages and also includes a pencil.

Canteo Pros:

- Nice dimension on the A5 book that I purchased

- The elastic strap is diagonal, so it holds a longer pen or pencil against the long side

- Binding looks good, perhaps a little better than Moleskine

- Paper is thick, has nice body to it

Canteo Cons:

- Paper performance is fine for a pencil or ballpoint, but feathers on almost every FP ink I tried and bleeds through to some degree with every ink I tried

- Paper is unfinished, so it's rough and primitive feeling

- What is that in the back? A pocket that's been clipped open? I think it's designed to hold their add-in books, but it's not a pocket by any stretch

Inks/Pens Used:

- Noodler's Polar Brown (Bleeds through a lot of things) in Pelikan M200 fine - bleeds and feathers like crazy

- Noodler's North African Violet in Lamy Al Star fine - slight bleed, no feather

- Noodler's "Special Brown", mix of Galileo and Eternal Brown (pen?) - feathers a lot, bleeds slightly

- Noodler's Legal Lapis in Pelikan M200 fine - some feather, slight bleed

- Aurora Black in Reform 1745 - bleeds through readily, a little feather

- Aurora Blue in Reform 1745 - bleeds through slightly, a little feather

- Noodler's Standard Brown in Pelikan M200 fine - bleeds slightly, a little feather

- Lamy Blue-Black in Lamy 2000 fine - tiny bleed, no feather

- Noodler's Lexington Grey in Lamy Safari fine - spreads and feathers like crazy, bleeds through somewhat

- Pilot G2 Blue 07 - no feather, bleeds through slightly

- Pilot G2 Green 07 - no feather, bleeds through slightly

- Mont Blanc Meisterstuck Rollerball, medium - feathers somewhat, bleeds through readily

- Alvin Penstix 03 - bleeds trough slightly, no feather

The above ink performance should be much better for me to switch. I really expect such a thick and heavy paper to hold the ink out better. I'm sure its because of the lack of finish. Also, almost all the inks spread out more than on a Moleskine, so your nice fine becomes a medium etc. As a comparison, NONE of the above inks feather significantly or bleed through on Rhodia paper.

Since my complaint with the Moleskine is the paper, this book will not be a replacement for Moleskine. However, I often find myself taking a book around with a pencil for sketching or lyric writing, so I'll use it for that.

Disclaimer: Your mileage may vary. I obviously have a lot of Noodler's ink and that does skew the results. However, I tried to include some other inks to give you an idea of this books's performance. I do have some Private Reserve that I'll try later, when I have a pen inked with it.

December 10, 2009

Thanks for the review.

Have you tried the Moleskine folios? I've heard that the paper is better (i.e. thicker), and they come in A4 and A3 sizes. I'm not even considering one because of the price and because I would have a problem lugging it everywhere.

I've actually never experienced and cover problems with my Moleskine, and it's been in my bag for a year and a half now.

December 10, 2009

Thanks for the review.
Have you tried the Moleskine folios? I've heard that the paper is better (i.e. thicker), and they come in A4 and A3 sizes. I'm not even considering one because of the price and because I would have a problem lugging it everywhere.
I've actually never experienced and cover problems with my Moleskine, and it's been in my bag for a year and a half now.

I've known of a few people that seem to wear them out before they are through with the book. Where I work, these books are very common to see. My own is about to tear up and I still have about 30 pages left. That being said, the cover isn't my main complaint with Moleskine, its just the paper. Thanks for the advice on the Folio.