New Staples Arc Vs Levenger Circa

January 10, 2016

I have many many Levenger Circa junior-sized notebooks (with the inexpensive plastic covers). After moving, I only have a few refill sheets left. I can get the Staple Arc in the local store. Comparing Arc to Circa paper, the Arc is smoother and a bit 'crisper' (you can thwap the corner) so might be a tad heavier. The Arc paper info is inconclusive regarding the actual paper weight. The info sheet in the starter junior book just says "premium heavyweight paper".

I am thinking of ordering refills from Myndology.com (Appleton WI). They offer 70 lb paper for the notebooks and 90 lb for the index/card stock items. I have seen this brand in the U-Nebraska Omaha student store and it seems to be a compatible disk system. I emailed them to make sure the hole distances are the same as Circa.

I use fountain pen for all note taking and keep different subjects in the different notebooks. The Jr size works well as a kind of journal.

I looked at Levenger.com today and they seem to be phasing out the "Compact" size (3.75 x 6.75 inches) which is sad because it makes a nice address book and is a portable size. I have not found this size in any of the other disc-system vendors.

Lately, I just carry around a 3x5 index card spiral book with perfed sheets for my many shopping notes. I have filled whole boxes of 3x5s filed into small (cheap) white envelopes with the subject scrawled on the outside. Welcome to death by a million small pieces of paper! LOL

At least 3x5 is an easy size to find and economic if you can stand the rough (probably recycled) paper they make them out of these days. The spiral 3x5 books seem to have a better quality paper (or the kind with a ring through a hole) compared to the generic 3x5s. Levenger 3x5 cards are nice, but I can't justify the price for them.

I need at least 3 kinds of paper: blank, grid, and lined. Beware that the refills offered at Levenger are frequently 'Special Request'. Over time they seem to have weeded out various paper refills. I purchased a paper pad with really nice paper from Levenger that perfed into a 3x5 size but they don't offer it anymore (Notationery branding).

I suppose I could hole punch paper to use (e.g. InkJet copy paper), but I just have the cheapo portable punch and it's kind of a pain to do many sheets. And I'd need a paper slicer as well to get the junior size.

February 3, 2016

I'm sad that CVS discontinued their disc filler paper. I stocked up from eBay so I should be set for a while, but I liked having nearby sources for quality paper (two stores within three blocks of my workplace).