M by Staples Notebook Cover
After my last experience with a Staples brand notebook, I was pretty reluctant to give them another shot, but when I saw this M by Staples black hard cover notebook, it reminded me so much of my Black n’ Red notebooks that I like so much, that I wanted to give it a try and see how it compared. This 8.5″ x 5.5″ notebook has a hard cover with 70 perforated, and college ruled sheets.
M by Staples Hardcover Notebook Inside
One minor thing about the outside cover that I don’t particularly love is the inch or so strip on the left that looks like fake alligator skin. I could do without it, but I don’t mind it I guess. Inside the notebook, the first page has a pretty standard feature to let you put whatever info you want such as name, date, or contact information. One of the features that I believe should be required is the double coil binding for any wire coil bound notebook, which this one thankfully has. The page layout is nice, the ruled lines don’t extend to the edges of the paper, which I think gives your writing a more uniform look once you start filling the lines. There is also a nice short little line for what most people would probably use for the date.
M by Staples Notebook Writing Sample
Based on my previous experience with a Staples brand notebook, I wanted to make sure I tested out a good variety of pens, so I broke out everything from fountain pens to highlighters for this writing sample. The first pen I tried was my Lamy Studio with Private Reserrve Ebony Green ink in it. To my surprise the paper and ink worked very nicely together, there was not any feathering or feeling that the ink was bleeding through to the other side. This quick test alone gave me some assurance that most other pens would work well since fountain pens are usually the toughest test for any paper or notebook.
M by Staples Notebook Writing Sample Show Through
I was really impressed with this Staples brand notebook as compared to my previous purchases from them, but if you look at the reverse side scan of my writing sample here, you can see there is a bit of show through. I was surprised when I saw this in the scan because in person it was nowhere near as prominent, and I’m pretty sure that this is just the result of the bright light of the scanner shining through the paper while being scanned.
The paper in this notebook seems to be of a fairly high quality, and holds up to fountain pens nicely, so I would have no problem recommending this to anyone in the market for a new notebook. I picked this one up in person at my local staples, but you can also find them here online if you are interested in your own M by Staples Notebook.
©2016, Brian Greene. All rights reserved.