Nuco Elite Notebooks - Paper Perfection At Last?

[tawanda]

Hello All,

 

A while ago I found a new notebook line in Tesco (UK) and decided to put it to the FP challenge. The company making them are called NuCo International and the range I tried out was their 120gsm 'Elite' range. I was so pleased with the results I've been using them almost exclusively for several months in connection with my fiction writing and my academic studies, and I decided it was about time I let you all in on my secret!

 

Over the past couple of weeks I've been busy pitting the Elite range against six contenders. As the whole review will be picture-heavy I thought I'd split it over two postings. In the NuCO 'corner' will be (No 6) A5 Wiro ruled pad (No 7) A4 Wiro ruled and (No 8) A4 casebound plain. Though similar in most respects, I decided to test out all three in case of paper quality variations between books. Many of us here have experienced problems like this with some 'value' ranges of notebooks and papers.

 

This week NuCo will take on:

 

No 1) Moleskine No 2) Silvine Executive and No 3) Muji (quad-ruled).

 

First, the specs:

The paper used in the NuCo Elite range is 120gsm in weight. All the books have a soft-feel poly cover, contain 200 pgs, and a rear pocket. The Wiro books contain perforated pages, whilst the casebound book has a ribbon marker. All have an elasticated band to aid closure. The paper in the Wiros was a pale creamy colour whereas in the casebound it was slightly off-white rather than cream. The A4 Wiro costs £9.99; A4 casebound £7.99; A5 Wiro £6.99

 

Moleskine: size 21 x 13 cm, 75 gsm, 192 pgs, leatherette cover, ribbon, rear pocket, elastic closure, cost £9.99

 

Silvine: A5, 90 gsm, 160 pgs, soft-feel pvc cover, ribbon, rear pocket, elastic closure, cost £5.99

 

Muji: A5 writing pad, 70 gsm, 120 pgs, card cover, cost £4.99

 

 

 

NuCO books

 

 

 

The Rivals!

 

Findings:

I was amazed how well the Nu ELite papers fared.

 

The paper has that smooth, almost glassy feel that you get with Clair paper, but it dried quickly. The finish did not inhibit absorption of the ink. The casebound book lay flat with without any persuasion. The covers are soft feeling but hardwearing, and what I'd term semi-stiff. They yield a little, but are robust enough to lean on and write without distortion.

 

There was no feathering at all except for a slight touch with the Eau de Nil. I have found this ink to feather on other occasions, too, so I'm chalking this up to the ink rather than the paper. There was also no bleedthrough, except for the tiniest trace on the lined papers with the Eau de Nil. But you had to really peer closely. There was none on the plain paper. In the general scheme of things it would not be noticeable, but as this is a review and the books are all under close scrutiny I wanted to disclose this.

 

There was no shadowing/ghosting on the reverse of the lined paper and only a slight trace was seen on the reverse of the plain paper, again not bothersome under usual conditions unless you are extremely intolerant to ghosting, and certainly nothing like that which you get with Leuchtturm paper (reviewed next week).

 

 

 

 

The Moleskine and the Muji fared the poorest, failing substantially on bleedthrough and shadowing. The Muji also feathered quite a bit. I certainly wouldn't want to use either of these with broad or wet nibs, although I've used Moleskines with xf nibs for some time now and they are passable. I don't see how you could use the Muji pad with anything other than a ballpoint. The Silvine faired better, but the cover scratched quite easily, there were less pages, and the texture of the paper seemed to caused some nibs to 'snag and drag' which didn't give a pleasant writing experience. The elastic closure snapped after only two days' use. The Moleskine and Silvine books lay flat after a little 'persuasion' by bending the spine back gently in three or four places. The Muji is a loose pad designed for letter writing and so this test was not applicable.

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion: The NuCo Elite notebooks definitely took this round. In terms of paper quality, quanity of pages, hardwearing outer cover/closure and price point they gave the greatest value for money and most pleasant user experience.

 

Next week NuCo verses Clairfontiane, Leuchtturm, Asda Executive notebooks.

 

DIsclosure: No affiliation just a very happy customer.

Edited for typos.

Edited May 7, 2013 by tawanda

[inkypete]

Thanks for the great review. For any aussies reading this some of the Nu range is creeping into Officeworks so keep an eye on what they carry.

[tawanda]

Thanks Pete!

Look out for the Elite range as some of their other lines use between 80 and 100 gsm paper, whereas the Elite is 120gsm

 

Cheers

T

[inkypete]

Thanks Pete!

Look out for the Elite range as some of their other lines use between 80 and 100 gsm paper, whereas the Elite is 120gsm

 

Cheers

T

Will be aware of that - thanks.

[Bogon07]

^{Tawanda thanks for the comprehensive review and Inkypete for the warning the Officeworks may have some of the Nu range.}

[tawanda]

For you US paper lovers, indeed anyone overseas, NuCo (uk) are always happy to take telephone orders, and will soon be accepting direct orders via a new web page.

[Anne-Sophie]

I am a notepad person.

 

Thank you so much for the warning about the Muji's behavior with broad nibs!

 

I can wait for next week comparison with Clairefontaine.

[tawanda]

Oh Anne-Sophie! Notebooks are like a drug for me. I cannot bear to pass one by in a store or on the 'net. I yearn for the day when I can own a really expensive leather bound beauty with hundreds of pages; a huge tome that will take me years to fill! But until that day, I have my NuCo Elites. I can't see myself buying many other brands now. Perhaps just the odd 'Martha Stewart At Home' which I shall also be reviewing soon.

[Zanshin]

Thanks for the review Tawanda. I had high hopes for these Nu: Elite notebooks when I picked up a few of the A5 ones from Tesco some time ago when they were on offer but I've ony used one of them so far and in fact just started the second one this morning which is why your review caught my eye.

 

The paper does have a nice smooth feel to it, but I found more problems with feathering with wetter or more saturated inks, particularly the sort that gives long thin spikes of colour radiating out. I currently have a medium Lamy 2000 with Diamine Denim and a broad Pilot Lucina with Noodler's Aircorp blue/black in my rotation, both of which give me those spikes. Bleedthrough and showthrough performance have been very good though.

 

The only other gripe I have is that the elastic closure on the first one lasted about two weeks before it came out at one end and on this second notebook it's lasted about one hour. Maybe that's why they were on offer.

[tawanda]

I, too, found feathering problems when I bought my first 'reporter' style flip notebook by NuCo around 18 mths ago. My elastic broke wthin a couple of days also.

 

However, that line has been discontinued and the paper I have reviewed is very much improved. I've been using one of their A5 notebooks for around 8 months, with a variety of pens and inks trouble free - and the elastic is intact, and still very strong.

[TSherbs]

Interesting results. Thanks for the review.

[cybaea]

Thanks Pete!

Look out for the Elite range as some of their other lines use between 80 and 100 gsm paper, whereas the Elite is 120gsm

 

Cheers

T

 

Only the Elite * Journal products use 120 gsm; PU, Business, and PP uses 100 gsm paper.

Source: http://www.nuco-international.com/products/nu-elite

[RobertP]

Just back from a late evening stop off at Tescos on the way home. And guess what I managed to find - Nu: Elite A5 Journal in black!

 

It's too late in the evening to write too much, but I have just filled the first page using my new MB 149 (M nib, Montblanc royal blue ink) as a quick scribble test. No feathering, no bleed through and fantastically smooth.

 

I am well chuffed!

 

Another couple (light tan and dark tan?) will join this one in the next days. This one as my personal journal and one each for work notes for my contract clients (I am sick and tired of trying to keep notes on an iPad).

 

Thank you for the suggestion and detailed review.

Rob

[RobertP]

And... special offer for only a fiver at Tesco at the moment. What could be better than that!

[murraypaul]

Just back from a late evening stop off at Tescos on the way home. And guess what I managed to find - Nu: Elite A5 Journal in black!

 

Sadly my local Tesco is a bit small, and didn't have any, but I'm going to give these a go to replace my current lined workbook.

[Haulien]

I went into my local officeworks looking for a new notebook, and came across one of the Nu: Elites, though in a B5 size. It's also 120gsm ruled. Now, I don't have really anything well-known to compare this with (I've ordered a few clairefontaine's online but they're due in a week or so), but I can't say my results with it has been great. The binding feels fine. The paper is quite smooth to the touch for me. The paper feels quite thick compared to the spirax mentioned below.

 

Here's where I had problems. I attempted to write something in it, and let me tell you, note that I'm currently being a cheapie and using a Jinhao x450 with a medium nib, with the Parker Blue Quink (once again, cheapie!), I've got a bit of ghosting, and a very small bit of bleeding with a few of the wetter lines.

 

I did a smear test (this book was to be an ink journal for me), the ink dried in under 10 seconds, so bravo to that.

 

I picked up a spirax platinum 400 notebook from the same store a few weeks ago (90gsm, lined, A4, though it's a wirebound) and it works much better (same pen, same ink, extremely little ghosting (eg, you won't notice it unless you're looking for it), no bleedthrough).

 

Also i was pushing some ink through the feed from my converter, happened to let a drop of ink through by accident (did this a week ago with the spirax too), and wiping it off the spirax held up much better, also with no bleeding. The Nu on the other hand, went right through one sheet and started bleeding through the next

 

If you've got a wet pen or like a bit of flex (even with just softer nibs), I wouldn't recommend the Nu too much, though it's a damn beautiful book and if you have a fine/dry pen it's probably great.

 

Oh well, for $8 it's not much of a loss. It's nice thick paper and I guess I can find another use for it.

 

Edit:

My camera isn't the greatest and won't show much of the ghosting, but here's some pictures:

Front of page: with flash, without flash. Back of page: with flash, without flash. (the big blob on the right front was where my ink dropped, the scratching in the bottom left (still front) is more of an attempt to make a wall, with very little overlap)

Edited September 10, 2013 by BoomBox

[Gloucesterman]

Read about this paper a while ago. Wish it was available on the side of the pond!

[Gary1952]

I purchased several of these notebooks from Officeworks today. They are, indeed, fountain pen friendly.

[tawanda]

boombox - I wonder if you have a pad with the older, less fp friendly paper? I've not seen an ELite notebook with 120gsm in a b5 size before. I've just searched through their current catalogue and cannot find a notebook in B5 either.

 

Gary 1952 and RobertP - glad you are enjoying them as much as I am!

 

Cheers

T

[Haulien]

I'll have to look into that further tomorrow morning, I'll run down to the store tomorrow and compare to their current catalogue.

 

For now though, here's a picture, for reference:

http://i.imgur.com/nQeNRGU.jpg

 

Here's a close up of the barcode for the smaller text that's partly unreadable in the above picture:

http://i.imgur.com/295OSRd.jpg

 

Hopefully I can get one with some FP-friendly paper (maybe in a different size..), they're cheap, available in decent quantities near me and I'm curious now :3

 

Either way, thanks for the review!

 

Edit: here's a link to the officeworks store page: http://www.officeworks.com.au/retail/products/Office-Supplies/Stationery/Notepads/Notebooks/NUPUJURB5

Edited September 12, 2013 by BoomBox