Good A4 Notebook?

[UltraMagnus]

Sorry if this has been asked many times before, however the search system wouldn't let me search for "A4".

 

I am looking for a good quality A4 or similar notebook, to use as a engineering logbook as I am an electronics student. It needs to have, good FP friendly paper, be ruled or squared, dry quickly as I am left handed, be a properly bound book (like a moleskine), and have a decent cover, either hardbound or a strong soft binding like a moleskine.

 

The only two I have found so far that come close are a red and black hardbound notebook, which apparently takes aeons to dry, or a extra large moleskine, but the paper on those is rather thin.

 

Thanks in advance.

Edited February 2, 2011 by UltraMagnus

[ralfstc]

Had a look at Clairefontaine? They do loads of nice A4s. You can often find them in university bookstores and art shops . . .

 

Cheers,

 

Ralf

[welch]

Two or three good choices:

 

- Clairfontane grid, A4, either bound or spiral. Beautifully smooth paper, makes a fountain pen write better (yes!!!). A bit slick, so ink is slower to dry. Not good for a very slow-drying ink, such as Noodler's Eel or Gate City Everflo. Others dry well enough.

 

- Rhodia grid, A4, spiral bound. I like the black-covered Rhodia grid that has a writing area blocked out, or set off, from the edges.

 

- Black 'n Red, A4 grid, spiral bound with stiff covers. You won;t need a clip-board. Has a handy map of world time-zones, metric/"English" , Celsius/fahrenheit cobersions. I'm looking at one: "Ref. J99085U Quad & Perdorated".

[jBeckett]

Have you considered a holder? Something like the Mnemosyne project holder might be good for you. Here's a shopping link with a bunch of pictures. They're based in the US but ship internationally at reasonable prices. Usual "no affiliation happy customer" disclaimer

 

http://www.jetpens.com/index.php/product/view/products_id/4785

[carlc]

For no real reason (except I like B nibs) I prefer A4 notebooks. My experience:

 

The Rhodia A4 are difficult to get hold of online (or so it always seems to me). Bureaudirect.co.uk will get them as a special order but will probably require a bulk order.

 

Rymans do the wirebound Clairfontaine A4

 

The Writing Desk have the Clairfontaine Matris soft cover (side stapled)

 

The Clairfontaine Age Bag may be suitable (cloth bound but looks tough enough, but the graph version has been discontinued) try bureaudirect.co.uk or officedog.co.uk

 

Pukka (WH Smiths and Ryman) - I find they feather but do dry quickly.

 

Oxford (stiff plastic cover)- similar to the Black and Reds (possibly the same paper - I'm no expert in who owns who) - very slow to dry (but I'm a righty and so they're my favourite).

 

The large Habana Quo Vadis (at thejournalshop.com) are 21 x 29cm and expensive but reputed to be very good - I have been waiting for them to come back in stock (and they are so that's one for me then)! ETA: dash it all (or words to that effect) - it's the graph line version - not for me. By the way they have Clairfontaine paper - so for the price go for Clairfontaine branded rather than spending that much.

 

Aargh - forgot the Staples Bagasse (eco) notebooks - hardbound, quick drying and nice to write on, lined only. Can be hit and miss whether your local Staples has them in stock. Biggest problem - not many pages in each (comparatively). You may think the papaer is a bit thin though.

Edited February 3, 2011 by carlc

[Fermata]

Sainsbugs do a passable A4 at the larger branches, black with a laggy band and like a Moley, cant remember if they do a graph paper or not.

 

Asda used to do one but the quality has fallen off the cliff.

[MaxFrank]

For no real reason (except I like B nibs) I prefer A4 notebooks. My experience:

 

The Rhodia A4 are difficult to get hold of online (or so it always seems to me). Bureaudirect.co.uk will get them as a special order but will probably require a bulk order.

 

Rymans do the wirebound Clairfontaine A4

 

The Writing Desk have the Clairfontaine Matris soft cover (side stapled)

 

The Clairfontaine Age Bag may be suitable (cloth bound but looks tough enough, but the graph version has been discontinued) try bureaudirect.co.uk or officedog.co.uk

 

Pukka (WH Smiths and Ryman) - I find they feather but do dry quickly.

 

Oxford (stiff plastic cover)- similar to the Black and Reds (possibly the same paper - I'm no expert in who owns who) - very slow to dry (but I'm a righty and so they're my favourite).

 

The large Habana Quo Vadis (at thejournalshop.com) are 21 x 29cm and expensive but reputed to be very good - I have been waiting for them to come back in stock (and they are so that's one for me then)! ETA: dash it all (or words to that effect) - it's the graph line version - not for me. By the way they have Clairfontaine paper - so for the price go for Clairfontaine branded rather than spending that much.

 

Aargh - forgot the Staples Bagasse (eco) notebooks - hardbound, quick drying and nice to write on, lined only. Can be hit and miss whether your local Staples has them in stock. Biggest problem - not many pages in each (comparatively). You may think the papaer is a bit thin though.

 

I agree with the oxford notebook choice. They're really cheap (I am not going to spend like 15-30 euros on a notebook which i use for school and throw away at the end of the year, plus this would cost me around 300 euro per year as I use about 5-12 notebooks a year) at only 3 euro each here and a discount if you buy 5 or 10 at the same time. Paper is 90g/m^2 i believe and it is really nice to write on.

I believe it is the best notebook and has a great price/quality ratio so it is ideal for school

[UltraMagnus]

Thanks for the suggestions, I went into my local rymans and found they sold the rhodia A4 notebooks some of you suggested.

[carlc]

Thanks for the suggestions, I went into my local rymans and found they sold the rhodia A4 notebooks some of you suggested.

 

Rhodia in Rymans!

 

Wow - I'm going tomorrow!

 

(Or did you mean Clairfontaine?)

[UltraMagnus]

(Or did you mean Clairfontaine?)

 

Nope, it was Rhodia, I picked up a pad of Clairefontaine "pupitre" paper whilst I was in there too.

[carlc]

(Or did you mean Clairfontaine?)

 

Nope, it was Rhodia, I picked up a pad of Clairefontaine "pupitre" paper whilst I was in there too.

 

Excellent!

[cubic archon]

(Or did you mean Clairfontaine?)

 

Nope, it was Rhodia, I picked up a pad of Clairefontaine "pupitre" paper whilst I was in there too.

 

That surprises me a bit but I'll definitely take a look, I'd like a nice hardbacked bound A4ish journal.

 

Rhodia has been appearing in more UK shops recently - I found dot pads in Paperchase, when you can't even get them on the web that I've seen.

[orangos]

Rhodia has been appearing in more UK shops recently - I found dot pads in Paperchase, when you can't even get them on the web that I've seen.

 

Good to know about the dot pads!

 

I was wandering around Bath the other week and found myself in a tiny stationers that carried much of the Rhodia range. Didn't escape unscathed...

[Fuddlestack]

My wife gave me a Leichtturm1917 in the ruled version. The paper is superb, and it has the usual rear pocket & bookmark, but with numbered pages and contents pages at the front. There's a set of cover & spine labels, too. The only drawback is that it's heavy, but that's no real hardship. I wouldn't want to schlepp half a dozen of them, though.