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I use cheap notebooks

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Re: I use cheap notebooks

#251

Post by codebook »

pluijzer wrote: post #137

I found my favorite combination of notebook and pen. I really like the paper of the Clairfontaine A5 notebooks. They are cheap and available everywhere here. They paper feel very smooth, not grainy but still give a good friction when writing. Speaking of friction, I love the erasable Frixion pens from pilot. I hardly ever use the eraser but I love the feeling of writing with it. The 'clicker' variant of the pen fits…

I really liked Clairefontain Agedbag notebook. But they went cheap from clothbound to bond a decade ago. Currently I am using Clairefontaine My Essential notebook as it is still thread bound (but price is double than age bag).

It’s been 20 years I’ve used their notebooks.

Re: I use cheap notebooks

#252

Post by munificent »

neogodless wrote: post #125
LaffertyDev wrote: post #78

It took me a while to get over the fear of destroying/using up nice things. Like enjoying a nice bottle of liquor, or using up a very nice notebook. Eventually I came across the idea that things are meant to be used, and now I'm much more relaxed about damaging/using up the things I own. I read once a stellar idea to help get over the fear of starting to draw in a notebook (or an art project, or a new software projec…

Spent a lot of my childhood getting stickers from the book ordering program, putting the sheets of them in a box, and never doing anything with them again. Most of them were ruined during my adulthood when my basement flooded. Now when I get a sticker, I throw it on something even if it's not the perfect destination for that sticker.

I feel attacked.

I have a drawer containing stickers that arrived with beloved products that I can't bear to commit to putting on anything. Some are decades old.

I have a pair of Technics stickers that I got with my Technics SL-1200 mkIIs in 2002. I think there may still be a rainbow Apple sticker in there. I have stickers for bands whose members have long ago stopped making music and now have boring day jobs and families.

Re: I use cheap notebooks

#253

Post by Dalewyn »

cyrialize wrote: post #62
m0llusk wrote: post #15

I thought this would be about laptops. The laptops I use for work and personal stuff cost around $100 and are effectively disposable. They are not great for intense use, but the vast majority of tasks go just fine. And when developing any serious slowdown shows up right away so my work ends up being usable on low end hardware with janky connections. When one of these laptops got stolen recently I just got another one…

My main laptop used to be a Thinkpad T530 from 2012 that I bought used off of eBay. I ran Linux. I never worried about it at all. There's holes in the keyboard and through the laptop to deal with liquid spills. The case was a nice hard plastic with enough flex to prevent breaking. Honestly, if I dropped it on the floor - I'd check the floor first for any damage. Taking it apart was straightforward, albeit a bit frust…

>I never place it anywhere where there may be dust.

If it's any consolation, the Apple M laptops' keyboards aren't the infamous butterfly ones.

More generally, I don't worry too much about pristine keyboards. I wipe them down every week or two with 91% isopropyl alcohol and tissue paper and they're good as new. They're going to get grimy because you need to touch them, so it's not worth the worry.

As for the screen, I just take a swiffer duster to them anytime I notice dust buildup. If I notice any liquid stains, like the keyboards I just take 91% isopropyl alcohol and tissue paper to them. Good as new.

Re: I use cheap notebooks

#254

Post by hn92726819 »

dTal wrote: post #147
nicbou wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Not putting miles on your Ferrari is like not having sex with your girlfriend so she'll be more desirable to her next boyfriend." -Jim Glickenhaus

The flaw in this delightful analogy is that boyfriends don't typically sell their girlfriends to each other.

That isn't a flaw at all. There was no mention of selling; it could be referring to a car being passed down from generation to generation.

Re: I use cheap notebooks

#255

Post by aynyc »

mdlman wrote: post #180
aynyc wrote: post #77

Just wondering, do people write on both sides of the paper? I don't, not because I don't want to, but because of ink bleeds (I know, I should get better pen and paper). I personally use a stack of printer paper, then punch 3 holes and put them in binders. That way, I can save the ones I want, recycle stuff that I don't want.

It might not be worth it to you, but you might try a slightly better quality printer paper. I’m using a generic store brand premium laser/inkjet paper (24 lb/90 gsm), and I’m not getting any bleed through or feathering. It costs more than normal printer paper, but handles ink well and goes on sale often.

Well, my printer paper is free, courtesy of my company WFH. Depending on price, I might pony up for that since I write a lot less than I print.

Re: I use cheap notebooks

#256

Post by jjice »

corobo wrote: post #71
jjice wrote: post #64

I'd love to get into using notebooks more, but I just don't think it's for me. I buy a stack of cheap legal pads (although I get A4 sized) and a box of cheap Bic pens that I think I got about 10 years ago. I tear pages off of the legal pad and staple or join them with a paper clip to keep them organized, but they end up being recycled when they're done. For long term stuff that I want to search, I `notes` directory w…

Have you tried not buying the cheap stuff? Maybe that's the issue. I switched to thicker paper and nicer pens and I write a lot more now. I find writing by hand gets information to bed in a lot better than typing it too. I don't even mean break the bank, I use Amazon Basics notebooks (until they shrinkflate the paper quality) and the pilot g-2 07 pen. Nothing too fancy. Each to their own of course but if someone said…

Ya know, I haven't. That's a good point. Honestly splurging once on some nicer gear to try might be worth it. That's for the suggestion.

Re: I use cheap notebooks

#257

Post by swalling »

bmitc wrote: post #222

The best notebooks I have found that meet both constraints of being cheap but good quality so as to not become frustrating are Muji's notebooks. They have several options in size and also styles between blank, lined, and graph lined and looseleaf or notebooks. They even have these tiny passport sized notebooks that I am trying to get into the habit of keeping with me to write down whatever I need in the moment. The p…

From https://www.muji.com/us/feature/whatismuji/: MUJI’s goal is to give customers a rational satisfaction, expressed not with, “This is what I really want” but with “This will do.”

I think half the time I go to a Muji store it's really because the entire space gives me a sense of calm. Making a brand that's inexpensive but still projects a quiet feeling of quality and attention to detail is rare, at least in America.

Re: I use cheap notebooks

#258

Post by m0llusk »

AlfredBarnes wrote: post #26
m0llusk wrote: post #15

I thought this would be about laptops. The laptops I use for work and personal stuff cost around $100 and are effectively disposable. They are not great for intense use, but the vast majority of tasks go just fine. And when developing any serious slowdown shows up right away so my work ends up being usable on low end hardware with janky connections. When one of these laptops got stolen recently I just got another one…

What laptops are you using that are only $100?

Roughly, ten plus year old asus is what I go after.

Re: I use cheap notebooks

#259

Post by criddell »

fencepost wrote: post #232
criddell wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, but it isn't landscape and it doesn't look like the pages are designed to tear out cleanly and easily.

If you haven't looked at them before, the Rhodia dotPad or Top Wirebound Notepad might be a fit for you and usable in either orientation. Rhodia's "pad" products seem to all have perforated pages (they tear nicely) where the "book" products are non-perforated. Edit: the wirebound has an A4 size page option, the dotPad has an A4 and a longer-than-A4 option. ~$10-16 depending on color and where you order, Amazon is not…

The longer-than-A4 option is intriguing. I’m wondering if a print shop would be able to cut off the top binding and change it to a glue edge along one of the long sides?

Re: I use cheap notebooks

#260

Post by jkestner »

I bought a block of Renshape for $80 in design school (a lot of money to me then) and have carried it with me ever since, waiting for the perfect design and also for my modeling skills to be worthy of this goddamn blue monolith.

Wait, I can afford a CNC mill now…

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