Levenger Circa

[Djehuty]

I've decided to go with the Inspiral system from Komtrak instead. I don't have pricing information yet, but it can't be as expensive as Circa/Rollabind. They're also not hiding their products from me the way Rollabind does, and I'll be able to use a spiral-bound notebook with good covers a bit more easily than the non-spined ("spineless" seems to harsh ) Rollabind notebooks.

 

I appreciate the input, and Rollabind does seem like an interesting and useful system. What killed it for me (apart from the difficulty finding the blasted things for less than Levenger's horrific prices) was that there's no way to balance one of their notebooks on my knee and take notes. I do enough writing not at a desk that I can't afford to invest heavily in a desk-only notebook system.

 

[MicheleB]

QUOTE (Djehuty @ Mar 25 2007, 04:42 PM)

I've decided to go with the Inspiral system from Komtrak instead.  I don't have pricing information yet, but it can't be as expensive as Circa/Rollabind.

I'd appreciate a report on your products. I am contemplating this as well.

[Djehuty]

Well, I was slightly surprised by Komtrak's price. It turns out the bindings are about $3.50, and the covers about $5.00. Still less than half the price of Circa, though, and there are probably ways to improvise covers and bring the price down even more. Also, according to the sales contact they're improving their manufacturing setup, and some time in April they'll have new products and lower prices.

 

I'll post a review as soon as I have the items in hand.

 

[Djehuty]

OK, scratch that. There won't be a review of the Komtrak system from me. A very nice fellow from that company called me today, and we discussed their binding system, and it turns out that it is not quite compatible with standard comb binding machines.

 

The short version is that their bindings are a tad thicker than standard comb bindings, so paper punched with the standard machine won't turn properly. The long version involved lots of measurements in thousandths of inches which I can't recall.

 

It's a shame, really. It looks like such a nice, useful binding system, but if I can't punch my own paper it isn't of much use to me.

 

Next I'll look into wire binding. All I really want is to be able to make my own notebooks; being able to rearrange them later is a secondary concern.

 

[RLTodd]

FWIW.....

 

Checking the DayTimer site, a person can get a zippered vinyl seven ring cover in 8.5 by 11 inch size for $40 plus shipping and a seven hole folio punch for about $23 plus shipping.

 

Unless the Circ type system has some special advantage I am not grasping I fail to see the advantage over my open, recovered from the trash, three hole advertising binder and ten dollar ten sheet Office Store hole punch.

[jsonewald]

QUOTE (Djehuty @ Mar 27 2007, 01:50 PM)

... It's a shame, really. It looks like such a nice, useful binding system, but if I can't punch my own paper it isn't of much use to me. ...

I'll get a few sheets comb punched at Staples and see if they fit my Inspiral binder. I am a little doubtful that they won't fit. The Komtrak guy is extremely helpful, but maybe a little too engineering focused.

[Djehuty]

Thanks, but at this point I think it will be easier just to get any custom notebooks I need bound at the local copy shop. A wire binding will do just as well.

 

[RLTodd]

Oh, bound..

 

You might want to look at Pefect Binding. There are inexpensive presses available or you can rig up your own with flat boards and bricks. Then all you need is the glue, a brush, and some covers.

[Djehuty]

Thanks, if I start experimenting with book-binding, I'll look into it.

 

[lalindsay225]

Thanks to everyone who posted info on the Levenger Circa/Rollabind notebooks. I had contemplated buying a Circa for a long time, but found the price too hard to swallow. I bought a Rolla notebook today at Staples instead! I'll let you know how it does with my pens.

 

Lisa

[donwinn]

I bought a couple of them on closeout at Levenger store. The design is definitely appealing, however in practice I found them not very useful. I carry that kind of notebook in a messenger bag, and found the pages were constantly coming loose. There was a laptop right next to the notebook, so there wasn't much bending involved.

 

The paper was also disappointing. The notebooks came with the lined/box margin style, blank, and grid paper. All 3 bleed through and feather with every fountain pen I've tried.

 

If you are in the US and close to a Staples, look at their "Rolla" notebooks, which are the same style and punch pattern. The Rolla notebooks are also much less expensive.

 

I took a quick peek at the Staples web site, and a search for Rolla turned up nothing. Searches for notebooks turned up no Rolla notebooks. Is it probable that it is something available only in-store, and not on the website?

 

Donnie in Little Elm TX

[Friend of Pens]

It's not clear to me what Staples is doing about Rollabind, and some of that may be because Rolla seems to be (have been? will be?) bought out by Carl, or so go the rumors I've heard. :ph34r:

 

At the risk of shameless self-promotion, I did find some Rolla products on the shelf at my local Staples, which I documented over on D*I*Y Planner if you're curious. Short version: I found refill paper, but no binding rings. It looks like they're going to be stocking just the refills, and like you, I cannot find traces of it on their web site.

 

I did finally break down and buy a Circa punch from Levenger, a Rolla refill from Staples, and various bits and parts to assemble my own notebooks, and I'm very happy with the results. Making a lap-worthy notebook is simply a matter of punching one or two stiff sheets of cardboard and inserting them into the rings. I am trying to avoid spending the Big Bucks for the official Circa covers for now, since I'm quite happy with my homebrew covers made out of old plastic folders and inexpensive flexible cutting boards.

[playpen]

Staples told me that they might have some paper left but the system was considered specialty and they are not getting any more of any of these products into the stores in the future.

[HDoug]

Has anyone tried the Clairing system? I saw it at Pendemonium's stationery page (http://pendemonium.com/stationery.htm). It seems like a Circa/Rollabind system except with Clairefontaine paper. Boy, that would do it for me. Can I use all my Circa/Rollabind rings and covers etc.?

 

Doug

[Friend of Pens]

Has anyone tried the Clairing system? [...] Can I use all my Circa/Rollabind rings and covers etc.?

 

From this stream on Flickr it looks like the systems will cooperate with one another. I've no personal experience with Clairing, though.

 

Edited to fix URL

Edited May 3, 2007 by Friend of Pens

[Tricia]

Has anyone tried the Clairing system? I saw it at Pendemonium's stationery page (http://pendemonium.com/stationery.htm). It seems like a Circa/Rollabind system except with Clairefontaine paper. Boy, that would do it for me. Can I use all my Circa/Rollabind rings and covers etc.?

 

Doug

 

They are interchangeable as far as my experience goes. I have both, and switch papers back and forth all the time. The only caveat is that the Clairing, being Clairefontaine, is A4, not US letter size, so the paper itself is a bit taller and narrower. That doesn't bother me a bit, so I'm loving the whole system. (I have punched regular Clairefontaine paper for my Circa system for a long time now. The Clairing just make it that much easier.)

 

 

Edited May 4, 2007 by Tricia

[Tricia]

OK, scratch that. There won't be a review of the Komtrak system from me. A very nice fellow from that company called me today, and we discussed their binding system, and it turns out that it is not quite compatible with standard comb binding machines.

 

The short version is that their bindings are a tad thicker than standard comb bindings, so paper punched with the standard machine won't turn properly. The long version involved lots of measurements in thousandths of inches which I can't recall.

 

It's a shame, really. It looks like such a nice, useful binding system, but if I can't punch my own paper it isn't of much use to me.

 

Next I'll look into wire binding. All I really want is to be able to make my own notebooks; being able to rearrange them later is a secondary concern.

 

 

I just saw this or I would have commented earlier. I have some of the Inspiral spirals and they work fine for me with the standard comb-binding punches. They're a bit big, physically, compared to a comb or coil binding, but work just fine. I will note that I bought mine a couple of years ago, so perhaps they've changed their design.