Office Max Virtuo brand ruled pad

[Juicyjones]

A friend just showed me a two-pack of letter-sized pads he bought at Office Max today.

 

He lost the wrapper but the label at the top says Virtuo, with a black top border and matching black backing with vertical black pinstripes in it, that is stiff as wood. The paper is about 20-25 lb, ruled, no margin, very white in color.

 

The reason I ask is that these are cheap, at us$5.00 for a two-pack, 50 sheets each, and incredibly Fountain Pen friendly. I wrote on one with all the pens I had handy and didn't see any feathering, no bleed-through at all, and barely even an imprint on the back when I colored in big block letters.

 

I am just wondering if anyone has ever used this brand. If y'all are interested I'll go buy one for myself and do a little paper review.

[bluemagister]

It enrages me that there isn't an Office Max within a 2 hour drive from where I live. I LOVE that Virtuo paper!

[inkyblot]

i have read all over this forum that 20lb paper is barely usable with a fp. not so of virtuo. this is probably the best legal pad that can be had at a b&m. in fact i like it more than exacompta and rhodia. there is no doubt much better to be had but not by walking into officemax of all places. the sad thing is that it is probably a "fleeting" jobbed brand of officemax. that is why i asked the manager if i bought 25 packages if he would give me 20% off and he said yes! ymmv, i suppose it depends on the manager and how many you buy.

[farseer911]

Great now I have to go into office max and look for them.... If I find them I will be more than happy to take them out of stock if people are interested in them.

Cheap FP paper is hard to come by in pad form.

[WillSW]

I just picked up a smaller "junior" pad with white paper and a larger pad with ivory paper. I'll put some reviews up soon.

[WillSW]

Ok, here it is. I didn't open the ivory pad and I'm probably going to return it later today. Not terrible performance, but long feathers that I just don't like.

 

Details:

 

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a94/willsw/virt2.jpg

 

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a94/willsw/virt1.jpghttp://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a94/willsw/virt3.jpg

[Cedar]

I've used it quite a bit and like it a great deal. I've never had trouble with feathering but it might be because I use F or XF nibs. No lines on the back. I use the ivory and I've not seen the white. The ivory looks great with Lie de The, Terra de Feu, Diamine Umber or Herbin Vert Empire and Prussian blue.

 

Cedar

[inkyblot]

wow! that is not what i get at all. you really had bad results with it. sorry. i have been using it lately with a f nib. on a emperor goldfish with with asa-gao. it looks fantastic. trust me, i would not use a pen like this with paper i thought was crummy. i did notice one drop of water will smear it really bad. more on this paper than some others. i don't put water on my paper though. i can not get it to bleed through if i try. you posted the proof. i just don't understand how. well, i think i do. you are using a much broader nib than i do. i only use f or xf on all my pens. also, iroshizuku is not saturated like noodlers and pr. those inks are almost a solvent. i am not insulting them, i like them very much. they are just hard on pens and paper.

[WillSW]

On my F and EF nibs shown - a Sailor EF, a Pilot EF, and an Estie 9550 - there are still little feathers (the writing may look larger than it is because it's the smaller pad, not the letter-size). It's not bad with every ink and only unbearable with the pure PR American Blue (the 50/50 mix with Omas Blue didn't feather nearly as bad). I haven't returned the ivory yet, and though I'm disappointed that I won't be able to flex on the paper, I might just open the pads and use them.

[MadAmos]

I just brought home the small in Ivory and white, and I get the same results as WillSW. I have never seen such long fine feathering. I was using Tsuki Yo with a Fine TWSBI 530 for this test.

 

I measured a couple of the worst of the fine feathers and they were .075" which is over 1/16 of an inch but very fine, weird.

Edited March 14, 2011 by MadAmos

[WillSW]

Well! So, I decided to chance it and open the larger ivory pads and...the results are much much better! There is still the occasional feather but much less often, and less feathering with the flex nib. Also, no bleedthrough on the back. So it seems like, for some reason, the large pads perform better than the small ones. I may post scans later.

[inkyblot]

i am guessing the white is the culprit and not the size. i am using the ivory. i guess that would explain this then. honestly a tad bit of feathering goes unnoticed by me. so i find these fine for taking notes. for archival purposes i probably wouldn't use this. there is no doubt better paper. however, it is very hard to find in a 5x8 tear off pad. i think the other issue is the ink. i have used tanzanite and lake placid diluted with 5 drops of glycerin. it worked good enough for me. i don't know if the glycerin makes a difference to the paper but it does to pens! that was with picadilly circus. i would not put that ink in the namiki lol.

[inkyblot]

willsw, could you please post your ivory? i'd like to see how it works for someone else.

 

thanks.

[WillSW]

willsw, could you please post your ivory? i'd like to see how it works for someone else.

 

thanks.

 

I have just gone out of town and did not bring the pad, so I'm sorry but I won't be able to until next week.

[inkyblot]

i am rethinking this deal. ampad gold fibre retro in a 12 pack(5x8) runs about $1.35 a pad. this only comes in a two pack and runs about $2.90 a pad(5x8). i do like the "looks" of this better. the no margin and papered backer. it is not better than gold fibre. so in the long run this is not really such a great deal. even though the manager gave me a break, i could have had a lot more ampad for what i spent on this.

[Cedar]

I've used it quite a bit and like it a great deal. I've never had trouble with feathering but it might be because I use F or XF nibs. No lines on the back. I use the ivory and I've not seen the white. The ivory looks great with Lie de The, Terra de Feu, Diamine Umber or Herbin Vert Empire and Prussian blue.

 

Cedar

 

I've seen and used only the letter size 8 1/2 X 11. I, also, use the Ampad Ivory. I think the Virtuo looks a bit nicer in a letter but both are suitable. Seems like the key is fine nib, ivory and large size...and no water. For the price in the letter size I think it's a good deal. YMMV

 

Cedar

[inkyblot]

i discovered that made in usa ampad retro is better and cheaper. for the 5x8. it has a tooth though, where the virtuo is pretty smooth. the key is the made in the usa. ampad has been bought,sold,traded so many times who knows what you get now. as has been mentioned here. i do not know about the 8 1/2 x 11...err 11 3/4. the only thing i do not like about the virtuo 5x8 is the amount of show through. no bleed through though. it is one sided anyways but i still don't like that so much. i do not see either size as a great value, sans the discount i got. it is not cheap.