Moleskine Ruled Notebook Large

Great product, but the price... (2010-07-30) : 3/5
Technically speaking, this is a good product. It is compact, durable and well-made. I have used these notebooks for essay-writing and journaling and am a satisfied user.

The main drawback to the Moleskine is the price. There is no way in the world that these made-in-China notebooks are actually worth $12-$20 dollars per unit. Some people (like me) will pay that price, so you can't really fault the company for charging that much, but the principle at work here is the same one that gets people to pay $5 for coffee at Starbucks without batting an eye. Form over substance.

Serious literature, if its first draft is written down on paper at all these days, is probably more likely to be recorded in a Hillroy scribbler. Most aspiring writers won't care how many famous people used Moleskines, but they WILL care about the price. With so many inexpensive competitors available, it's much easier to pick the vynil-backed competitor usually sitting on the same shelf. In fact, if they had historically been as expensive as they are these days, those famous artists who are noted as Moleskine users probably would have been forced to find a cheaper alternative.
Love Moleskine (2010-07-29) : 5/5
This is my 4th one in 3 years. I use them for notetaking and think they are perfect. They are the perfect size, great cover, love the pocket and strap and the paper is great quality. My only wish would be for a pen loop, but you can makeshift that...
Legendary notebook with a bad quality paper (2010-06-15) : 1/5
I bought Moleskine notebooks back in the good old days before the small French quality manufacturer got acquired by the current company (I think it's an Italian mega consortium who doesn't give a fly about notebooks or paper.) That resulted in the company moving their manufacturing to China and marketing the brand to keep high profit margins.

Now, who cares about the brand, when the most important part in a notebook is the paper quality and the bounding. I have to agree with most people who complain about the paper quality in the notebook: it's very low and subpart to even a composition book I can get at Office Depot for 1/10 of the price (See high profit margins above.) For a better quality artist notebook, I now use Canson (made in France) and for taking notes I switched a long time ago to Boorum & Pease (Columner books made in USA.)

Sorry Moleskine but your "legendary notebooks" (TM) are just plain... legendary.
Pretty much perfect, great product! (2010-06-09) : 5/5
I'm an engineer by trade, so i'm use to taking an large amount of random notes for record. Perfect size, and great paper as well! Noticed that some people felt the paper was a little cheap, but i think its fine. I write mostly in black with a MB Meisterstuck ball point and have no problems at all. Overall its the best not book for the money IMO.
Almost perfect (2010-05-19) : 4/5
Its almost perfect, other than the first page being partly glued to the cover. Best pen to write in a moleskine with is a Pilot G2 Fine Point Rolling Ball Black Gel Ink Pens, 2-Pack (31031)