Moleskine handles it like a champ.

I also really like the form factor. Especially for the big soft cover moleskines. I'm not sure exactly why, but the dimensions are just perfect for me and I haven't been able to find anything else that's similar.

The two notebooks I tend to rely on are the Rhodia Webnotebook and the Leuchtturm1917, which are both much higher build quality than Moleskine in every respect (although the Leuchtturm has a bit of a smearing issue with G2 pens). But if you think a Moleskine is overpriced, you are in for a rude surprise with either of those.

It does seem like there should be, out there somewhere, a cheap and high-quality engineer's pocket notebook. But if there is such a thing I have yet to find it, and I have tried probably 10 or so contenders.

[1] Other reports: http://www.notebookstories.com/2011/10/17/moleskine-monday-h...

Also I only use the soft cover ones, so maybe that affects their quality as well because soft covers are less prone to breaking and ruining the stitching.

Here's my report from a few years ago: http://swizec.com/blog/notebook-fetishism/swizec/2729

Have you tried Black n Red? (http://www.blacknred.com/) I doubt they'll have dot grid, but perhaps.

Or Field Notes? (http://fieldnotesbrand.com/) I'm not sure if Field Notes is just a fashion brand or if they're actually good.

I love dot grids, because each page has the potential to be either grid, ruled, or plain, depending on how seriously you take the dots. Having now gotten used to the various ways of using dotted paper, I don't think I could go back. If you are satisfied with other ruling methods, then you have many more potential vendors, but I am not.

So that leaves these contenders: leuchtturm1917, rhodia, behance, field notes, scout, dotgrid.co, whitelines, ecoqua, monsieur, and nuuna. Vendors seem to come and go, as notebooks seem to be a bit of a fly-by-night sort of business.

Behance and nuuna have that "fly by night" feel and seem difficult to get ahold of in the US (e.g. through Amazon, etc), so I have not tried them. Traditionally leuchtturm1917 has had this problem, but their US distributor seems to be straightening it out.

Scout and dotgrid.co only come in something like Moleskine's "cahier" configuration (e.g., not hard bound). These might be worth trying, but I prefer perfect-bound.

Field Notes only sells in "cahier" configuration, and their only dot grid product is on waterproof/fireproof/everythingproof paper. I hear they work well with pencil or ballpoint pen but the ink from my trusty G2s doesn't absorb well into the paper, so I will just be getting ink all over the place.

Ecoqua sells a glue-bound notebook with a soft cover and no pocket, so it isn't really Moleskine-equivalent in its featureset.

Whitelines is interesting because the lines/ruling is actually brighter than the paper itself, which scans well. However, their Black Ocean notebook is missing a pocket in the back cover, which is an important feature for me. I will probably pick one up eventually. They do have some nice pads though, including offbeat paper like isometric.

Monsieur is a weird size (not very pocket-friendly), and seems to have some supply issues.

This leaves the Leuchtturm1917 and the Rhodia. In my experience, the Leuchtturm1917 is smeary with G2 pens, but is otherwise perfect. The Rhodia's paper is perfect for the G2, but because the paperstock is so thick, the notebook feels a little thick in the pocket. I tend to alternate between these two notebooks.

I have also looked into abusing the on-demand book publishers to create notebooks, but it seems self-published hardbound pocket books are not a thing. Things like boundforanything.com get pretty close, but you're still missing core features like a ribbon, elastic, and a rear pocket.

tl;dr getting a notebook right is more difficult than it looks, rhodia and leuchtturm1917 come the closest for me.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/home-gift-patina-brown-drago...

It has a dragon fighting a gryphon, which makes it much cooler than the moleskines. It's $50.

On a serious note though, everybody should keep a daily journal, and a $0.99 cheapo from Wal-Mart will do the job.

'The Alwych Book' notebooks have really thick creamy paper and heavy blue lines, and the smaller ones will fit in a pocket easily. They are your white-van driver's notebook, basically indestructible.

Both are a good percentage cheaper than Moleskines.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cahier-Plain-Pocket-Journal-Brown/dp...

I'm not above spending 20 bucks on a notebook, I just think Moleskin's paper isn't very good, when compared to other notebooks.

Also I don't have Wal-mart here, but I think you'd be hard pressed to find a cheap leather-bound (or fake leather, I don't know or care which Moleskine use) notebook with 190 pages that aren't pure blinding white, for 15 euro on the official site, or as low as 10 on Amazon.

Sure, there are plenty of cheap notebooks, but those usually don't have the same specs so the comparison is somewhat unjust. Hell, if you wanted to go really cheap, you'd just buy a stack of printer paper.

I wasn't trying to imply that the 15 cent notebook is Moleskin's equal, I'm just saying that the availability of adequate paper sets the expectations of expensive notebooks pretty high. There are notebooks just as expensive as a Moleskin that I would pay for, because I find them to be better in quality.

http://www.amazon.com/Moleskine-Folio-Notebook-Professional-...

I stole the idea from a friend of mine. "I use little notebooks for little ideas, bigger ones for bigger ideas."

He added, "I have a coffee-table sized one at home that I've never written in, because I've never had an idea that big."

That said, recent redesigns by Strathmore have added a perforation to the notebooks. I am old and cranky and cannot tolerate this for some reason, and thus am searching for a new standard notebook. So far a cheap chemistry notebook carried by a local college bookstore looks good, and I may buy a big boxful if they hold up well.

Moleskines are fine, but tiny, and not large enough for doing engineering diagrams.

My old University still sells lab books with hard covers and alternate grid and lines. The grid is in green and there is a choice of 1mm/10mm or 2mm/10mm/20mm on the grid (UK). Because all the science undergrads use them the supply can be depended on.

The engineering department in the University where I took my first degree always insisted on us making sketches with a machine pencil and no ruler on plain paper, especially during lectures. Their argument was that you needed to learn to express your ideas in visual form quickly. I wasn't very good at it but stuck with it and tend to prefer plain paper now.

I trust we all back up our better pages with a phone camera or scanner?

That being said, to an extent the suitability of the paper you are using depends largely on what you are using to write with. So, in spite of the fact that they are overpriced and the paper feels cheap, they still might be one of the best options depending on what kind of pen you use.

Personally, I write with a wide variety of vintage and modern fountain pens, and Moleskins just don't seem premium enough to warrant the expense.

After having used their notebooks for a few years I can't help but feel, like the parent, that when it comes to Moleskine their popularity can be attributed more to brand recognition than quality. The paper they use is pretty substandard which causes ink to dry slower than other paper and if you use fountain pens you have to contend with considerable amounts of feathering and bleed-through. Based on experience Clairefontaine paper seems to be far superior and their notebooks make for a cheaper option if you don't need leather binding[0]. The Rhodia Webnotebooks[1] would be in the same product category as Moleskine notebooks except the former again has better quality paper.

[0] http://www.gouletpens.com/Clairefontaine_s/56.htm

[1] http://www.gouletpens.com/Rhodia_Webnotebooks_s/54.htm

P.S. I'm not affiliated with any of these manufacturers or Goulet Pens.

I'd heard good things about Clairefontaine, and the 1917 line in particular.

http://www.gouletpens.com/Leuchtturm1917_Jottbook_s/1324.htm

But, sadly for me, there's no option for unlined. Indeed, the dropdown for "Find by paper ruling" has no such choice.

I've been pretty happy with these: http://www.amazon.com/Pen-Ink-Notebook-5-5X3-5Ls-Blank/dp/B0...

though I have assorted other brands and forms I've been trying out.

http://www.gouletpens.com/Shop_All_Notebooks_s/890.htm?searc...

Perhaps I will buy another of their diaries, I haven't decided yet, but for general note taking I much prefer something that's spiral bound. Looking at the prices (and perfect binding...) of ordinary Moleskine notebooks, I think these represent much better value: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pukka-Pad-Notebook-Wirebound-Jotta/d... (the paper is not super premium, but feels weighty enough and doesn't suffer from bleed through too much)

http://www.nibs.com/Left-hand%20writers.htm

There's Clairefontaine, Black and Red, Rhodia, Leuchttern, and probably a dozen or so others that I'm not aware of. Some might be a little more expensive than Moleskines, but some of them are much cheaper depending on the size and model you prefer.

Also Muji is a Japanese brand - the paper works really well with fountain pens, which are common there. Moleskine paper does not fare as well (as fountain pens are rare in the US). Being French (one of the few remaining fountain pen heavy cultures, with Japan and Germany), I still write daily with a fountain pen and deeply enjoy it.

Oh and also I'm left handed, and thus write in my notebooks from last to first page (in western order) - since Muji is a Japanese brand, the notebooks are designed to be used in that way. That's a little detail, but I'm a little obsessive :-)

http://i.imgur.com/SSc29KLl.jpg the page flipped over to the right being the previous page, and the page under the one visibly written on being the next page.

Sadly, I still have to be careful when I write, otherwise it is a smudge fest (especially with a fountain pen; fortunately, I had a few grade school teachers who taught me how to write with my hand positioned in a way that minimizes smudges)

http://www.muji.us/store/stationery/notebooks/recycled-paper...

The paper is a nicely aged light brown with a gradient towards the edge now.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8403291/muji-b5-2000-cro...

Snap does not show the full gradient but you get the idea. Pages flexible, no cracking or anything.

Oddly enough, the pages in the squared version of the notebook are still bright white, no sign of ageing at all.

So Moleskine definitely holds meaning to me as something associated with quality.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_value