I just barely started using my small lined Piccadilly notebook this week (as a reading journal where I’ll keep track of books I’ve read), but I’d noticed even before I started that the elastic was already getting loose– the parts that hit the edges have lost their stretch, though the middle of the elastic still has some tension to it. I’d heard other users complain about the same thing. But as others have said, you get what you pay for, and the price differential between these and a Moleskine may still outweigh the quality differential for many people.
So far my large unlined Piccadilly seems to be fine. I also noticed that I like the paper better in that one– it seems smoother than the paper in the small unlined notebook.
Does anyone else have any feedback on how the Piccadilly notebooks stand the test of long term use? Are they back in stock at any Borders stores yet?
I have been using a Medium Ruled Piccadilly Notebook for about 5 months or so now, just finished it today. There has been a little loosening of the elastic over time, but not bad at all. Also, the corners on the binding have taken some beating, but I take it everywhere in my bag, etc.
I also have a Small Plain Piccadilly notebook. I am about half way through it, using it for several different purposes at once. It’s a great little notebook, and it has held up surprisingly well for the abuse it takes.
I just picked up another Medium Plain Piccadilly notebook the other day to use as a sketchbook and creative idea book. I’m stoked to break into it.
Overall, I am very very pleased with the quality/price ratio!
Yar, the elastic on the pocket sized notebooks, erm, sucks. Looking at mine, it appears the rubber threads have completely disintegrated. Borders here in Boise, Iderho, has restocked all Piccadilly selections including the new squared versions , agendas, decorated spirals, and journals. (I’m hoping their small Rhodia selection will soon include the new Webnotebooks which seem to have finally hit the States.)
Can’t comment on the quality variations in Piccadilly paper stocks but I imagine Piccadilly has a dickens of a time maintaining consistent manufacturing standards while simultaneously hitting their aggressive price point AND making money all at the same time.
Suggest y’all visit the site if you’re looking for bargain notebooks. They’re having a 25% off sale and $5.00 shipping on any size order.
david boise ID
I purchased several small Piccadilly notebooks a little before Christmas. All of those had their elastic go bad in a month or two- seemingly not through use, but just time. I wrote to Piccadilly recently and they sent me a new batch. They claim the elastic is not a known issue, but it seems it probably is. The new batch has not had any elastic issue yet. It’s been about a month, so we’ll see.
I have three of the medium-sized ones that I use at work for various things. One of ’em is my backpack notebook that I take back and forth to alternate job sites, which means it gets banged around more than the others. I’ve not had any issues with any of them so far, and they’re almost a year old at this point. The local northern Viriginia Borders seem to have restocked in the last week or so.
They’re back in stock at our closest Borders. Lined, grid, and plain in three different sizes.
I just bought two Piccadilly notebooks at lunch time today. The elastic band on the notebook is way tighter than the last batch I bought. So perhaps they have corrected the issue.
I have a Piccadilly medium graph notebook that I picked up back in December. The elastic is doing fine, but after only about two months of somewhat regular (but by no means excessive) use, the spine is breaking where it meets both the front and back covers.
I just finished a medium unruled Picadilly notebook, having used it daily at work for three months, shoving it in bags, and (occasionally) dropping it.
I have no real complaints about the paper stock (excellent writing quality and lots of pages) or the cover itself, they held up well.
My primary issues were with the spine. The hard spine that you praised in your earlier review became a liability under hard use and frequent page, spine creasing (to open the pages full while note taking.
It now displays a two inch tear from the top front corner of the spine down, and a lateral tear in the middle (back) of the spine. the elastic also gave out long ago, but that was less important for me as the notebook itself was too small to hold an 8.5″/11″ sheet folded in half. That was the only thing needing containment in my daily use, and it was only for a short period of time.
Over all, I’d say that it has held up very well, but the tear on the spine counteracts my intent of having something a bit more “professional” for meetings.
I may eventually switch back the my trusty reporters notebook which fits handily in my back pocket (even in suit pants), but for now I’m using a Pen & Ink. We’ll see how that goes.
Thanks,
Dave
Oh. I should also note that the ribbon came out after about 2 weeks of use. At the end of it’s life, I used the elastic as a page marker.
Dave
I’ve just started using (16-OCt->2/Dec) my 1st medium sized Piccadilly. They are great and I love the price — BUT the spine started to go on the top and bottom. Now gummed up with tape,
I’ll see how the next one goes….
I started 2011 with all new sketchbooks, the smallest being a piccadilly. I noticed it’s spine looked different from the one I had a while back, which was good because that spine had cracked about a quarter inch down after 6 months or so. It looked like a more flexiable material.
However, this one was worse, after 18 days & 6 pages of use, the spine has started to split. Worse, the split looks like it is already cracking up the length of the book.
I tried to contact Piccadilly via their website, to see if maybe i got a bad book, but they didn’t respond. At this point, I’m giving up on them. There is no way this book will last until I finish it, so even though it was cheap, in the end it wasn’t worth it.
PS- For what it’s worth, the elastic is still good!
The Modo e Modo Moleskine I bought at a thrift store had it’s elastic band completely loose. So if this old Moleskine was one of the “good ones”, it doesn’t seem to matter what you pay for, they all wear out over the years.
Yep, loose elastics can be an issue with the old ones, but I’ve had some that were nice and tight. I think the differences are sometimes because the elastic has deteriorated, and sometimes it’s just inconsistency in how they were made. The old Modo e Modo ones are not always 100% perfect, but they are still better than what they make now, in my opinion, anyway!