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Pad & Quill Journal Notebook and Deluxe Leather Journal Cover review

No matter how many times I’ve tried to switch to digital task and journaling apps, I always end up missing using my favorite pen and notebook. There’s just something so personal about putting pen to paper and a notebook full of doodles, taped in ticket stubs, photos, and memories means more to me than any app on my phone ever could. For that reason, I enjoy trying new notebooks and covers that protect them. So let’s check out one of each from Pad & Quill.

What is it?

I guess that should say what are they instead of what is it because I’ll be telling you about two separate products being offered by Pad & Quill. There’s the Journal Notebook which is available in two sizes, and the Deluxe Leather Journal Cover also available two sizes and two colors. I was sent the medium size version of each one.

My package arrived wrapped in brown kraft paper with a wax seal which felt very Harry Potter-esque to me.

Inside the package was the A5 sized leather cover in Whiskey brown with an A5 sized notebook inside. Remember, that each of these items is a separate purchase and that a notebook is not included with the purchase of a leather cover.

The leather cover is made of full-grain leather sewed with a tan colored parachute grade thread. The only branding on the cover is the Pad & Quill logo which is stamped on the back cover.

The notebook cover has wide flaps inside to hold the notebook in place and the left side has two card slots sized to hold standard sized credit cards or business cards in the vertical orientation.

As you can see from the image above, the interior of the cover is not lined. The raw side of the leather is visible. The nap is smooth and does not shed or leave crumbs when you insert and remove a notebook.

The Pad & Quill Journal Notebook comes in 8.3in x 5.6in x 0.5in (A5) and 5.3in x 3.7in x 0.5in sizes. I was sent the A5 size.

The notebook has a dark grey linen cover, an expandable pocket, 192 pages of 100 GSM acid-free off-white recycled paper, and is available with either plain or dot graph pages.

The notebook has a 2-page table of contents and all the pages are numbered which is a must-have feature when I’m shopping for a new notebook.

The pages are smooth and easy to write on. I’m not a fountain pen user, but regular ink did not bleed through the pages.

Another nice touch is that the Pad & Quill Journal Notebook has two bookmarks. There’s an orange one and a white one. Even the ends of the bookmarks are sealed so they won’t unravel. Also, you’ll notice that the notebook can lay flat because it uses a Smyth-swen binding which means that you can open it to your desired page and it will stay that way.

It’s easy to insert the notebook into the Deluxe Leather Journal Cover. All you do is slide the front and back covers of the notebook into the cover’s sleeves on either side.

A nice wide black elastic band secures the cover closed.

Check out the French seams along the edges of the Pad & Quill Deluxe Leather Journal Cover. I even discovered that I can clip my pen to the elastic band and it will hold it in place between the covers which is a nice touch. Everything about this cover is first class including the 25-year guarantee on the leather.

What I like

  • Notebook cover is attractive and well made
  • Journal has numbered pages and a binding that lays flat
  • Standard sized cover can be used with other notebooks

What needs to be improved

  • Nothing

Final thoughts

If you share my love of notebooks and pens and have been shopping for a new notebook and cover to protect it. Do yourself a favor and stop by Pad & Quill’s site so you can read more about their new journals and journal covers. They are well made, attractive, and nicely priced.

Price: Journals are $18.66 for the Medium A5 size and $15.26 for the small size, Delux Leather cover is $59.46 and $42.46.
Where to buy: Pad & Quill
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Pad & Quill.

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Pad & Quill Journal Notebook and Deluxe Leather Journal Cover review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 22, 2018 at 11:10 am.

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Archer and Olive release new notebooks

NEWS – I love a good notebook for my bullet journal. Specifically, one with a heavyweight paper (dot grid or plain) that has a smooth feel and is bright white. I discovered Archer and Olive on Instagram and fell in love with their constellation cover designs and super thick (160gsm) paper, so that I can use any type of medium – pen, marker or even paint! Their notebooks and sketchbooks come in sizes 5.5″ x 8.25″ and various covers with gold foil logos, along with flowery goodness. They’ve just released a new set of notebooks with a pen loop, lighter dot grid print, and wider size at 5.75″ x 8.25″.  If you’re looking for the perfect bullet journal notebook, I’d recommend checking out Archer and Olive. You can find out more on their website.

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Archer and Olive release new notebooks originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 15, 2018 at 10:00 am.

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Finally, a spiral-bound notebook lefties will love

NEWS – As the mother of a left-handed daughter, I’ve listened to years of complaints about regular ring binders and spiral notebooks.  The rings or the spiral gets in the way of her writing, making taking notes uncomfortable.  Especially in the earlier years, she had to have a spiral-bound notebook for each of her classes, so she was stuck using the notebooks she hated.

A couple of years ago, I found some top-bound spiral notebooks with college-ruled notebook paper inside.  She could finally use a notebook easily without the rings or spiral getting in her way.  Amazon has the Mead Cambridge top-bound notebooks for sale now.  The books are filled with 8.5″ x 11″ college-ruled, 20 lb. white paper, with 70 perforated sheets (140 pages) per pad.  The overall size is 8.55″ x 12.62″.  The notebook has a heavy-duty front cover and a stiff cardboard back for a sturdy writing surface even without a desk.

Amazon makes the Mead Cambridge top-bound notebooks available for $2.45 as an add-on to a purchase of at least $25.00.  If you need wide-ruled pages, Amazon offers a set of four wide-ruled, top-bound notebooks for $15.00.  See both options of the Mead Cambridge top-bound spiral notebooks at Amazon.

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Finally, a spiral-bound notebook lefties will love originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 17, 2018 at 10:00 am.

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Royole RoWrite Smart Writing Pad review

REVIEW – It can be argued that digital notetaking is infinitely better than writing notes on regular paper because digital notes are always backed up, easily searchable, and can be edited. But what can you do if you want to switch to digital notetaking or journaling, but you also don’t want to give up the feel of writing on paper with a traditional pen? One solution might be the RoWrite Smart Writing Pad from Royole. Let’s take a look.

What is it?

The RoWrite is a specially designed writing surface that when paired with the RoWrite pen, digitizes your text and drawings written on regular paper. The pen includes pressure sensor circuitry that captures 2048 pressure points and the iOS and Android app allows you to edit and enhance your captured images and text after the fact.

What’s in the box?

RoWrite folio
2 RoWrite A5 sized writing pads
RoWrite digital pen
AAAA Battery
Extra ink cartridge
Cartridge extraction tool
micro USB charging cable
Quick start guide

Design and features

The RoWrite folio is designed like a notepad folio and dimensions of  8.5 x 11-inches. The cover has a soft texture that looks like canvas but I think it’s really a soft flexible nylon material.

Inside the cover of the RoWrite folio are several slots for papers, cards, and an extra notepad.

And in the center of the folio is a built-in holder for the digital pen.

Included with the RoWrite are 2 A5 sized smart writing pads which each have 18 blank unlined pages.

The pads of paper are held in the right side of the RoWrite folio by a magnetic clasp at the top of the notepad.

This clasp easily folds open so that you can replace the pad when needed. Note that I am not sure how much the replacement pads of paper cost because they aren’t listed on the Royole site or any other sites that sell the RoWrite like Amazon.

The pads have two holes at the top that make it easy to keep the pads securely in place and the thickness of the pads are designed to make the digital text capturing function of the RoWrite as optimal as possible.

That said, there is nothing special about the pads of paper and you can use your own paper if you make sure that you only write within the area of the A5 size outline. You can see the page outline corners on the digitizing pad in the image above.

The RoWrite pen looks like a traditional ink pen with an aluminum barrel and cap that has plastic accents on the ends. It uses a standard Type D1 pen refill that you can find on Amazon.

The pen doesn’t have to be charged as it is powered by a replaceable AAAA battery.

The battery compartment is accessed by unscrewing the cap on the end of the barrel. There are advantages and disadvantages to a digital pen that uses physical batteries. An advantage is that it probably runs longer on a physical battery than it might on one charge of a built-in lithium-ion battery. But the disadvantage is that you will have to keep buying new batteries to have on hand and the RoWrite pen uses a AAAA battery, so you might not find replacements at your local Walmart or drug store. But you can buy a package of 8 AAAA batteries on Amazon for less than $5.

I’ve been using the pen on and off for brief writing sessions for a couple of weeks and the battery is at 80% capacity.

The RoWrite pad has its own built-in battery that requires charging before you can start using it. To charge it, you can connect a micro USB cable to the port on the upper left corner of the pad. You can see the port in the image above along with the power switch to the right of the USB port and two buttons that are labeled A and B. When you press the A button, it will immediately send any digitized text in the RoWrite’s internal memory to the RoWrite app and the cloud and if you press the B button it prompts the RoWrite to create a new page in the app for the next pen strokes even though you might still be writing on the same physical piece of paper.

Testing the RoWrite

With the RoWrite smart writing pad charged, the battery inserted in the pen, and the RoWrite app installed on your iOS or Android device, it’s ready to start digitizing your written text and drawings. I tested the RoWrite with the Android version of the app on my Pixel 2 XL.

As you write on the paper pad, the marks are immediately recreated on the RoWrite app. You can even press the play button in the app to watch a replay of your writing/drawing session.

The RoWrite app


The RoWrite app has a set of basic features that allow you to create digital copies of the physical notes and drawings done on the paper in the folio. As you write, a copy of the same writings appears in the app. From there, you can convert the written words to text. It does an average job of converting the physical writings to text as long as you write clearly and don’t expect doodles or other little drawings to convert correctly. For example, checkmarks, X’s in boxes for tasks and other drawn symbols probably won’t be recognized.



The RoWrite app will also allow you to edit your digital drawings using rudimentary tools to change the color of the pen’s “ink”. You can even erase sections and write on the screen to add to the notes or drawings digitally.


Digital drawings and notes can be saved as a PDF file, a JPG, and shared with a variety of apps like Facebook, Evernote, Instagram, and more.

What I like

  • You can use any paper with the pad as long as you only write within the A5 footprint
  • Instantly captures what you write in the RoWrite app as you’re writing it

What needs to be improved

  • You have to keep the RoWrite pad charged and have a supply of physical batteries on hand for the pen
  • Not sure where you can buy the RoWrite replacement pads of paper

Final thoughts

The Royole RoWrite does what it’s been designed to do and I had no problems with any the functions or features. This product reminds me a lot of the Neo smartpen M1 which I recently reviewed. But with the Neo pen and other digital pens like it, they can only be used with special notepads and notebooks.

The RoWrite can be used with any paper, BUT you have to keep both the pen and the folio charged. Therein lies the choice. Do you go with a digital pen that can be recharged, but uses special paper or do you go with the RoWrite which lets you use any paper you like, but it requires you to buy special batteries for the pen? For me, I  would go with the RoWrite just for the fact that I can use my own paper instead of buying expensive notebooks. While there is a bit of inconvenience with the pen’s batteries, they aren’t very expensive and there’s also the option to get rechargeable AAAA batteries.

Price: $129.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Royole.

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Royole RoWrite Smart Writing Pad review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 9, 2018 at 5:38 pm.

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Rocketbook Mini Everlast Notebook review

Note takers, rejoice! Now you can have your old-school notebook AND the convenience of digitizing your hand written brilliance… and you’ll never have to kill another tree again. What sorcery is this? It’s Rocketbook. Let’s check it out!

What is it?

It’s a pocket-sized erasable and reusable notebook that, when paired with the Rocketbook app, enables you to scan and upload your note pages to your favorite cloud services.

Hardware specs

  • 3.5” by 4.6” notepad
  • Synthetic blend paper
  • Erasable and reusable
  • Pre-printed smart grid pattern on all pages

What’s in the box?

The Rocketbook Mini Everlast Notebook is now available on Indiegogo in a variety of packages. My sample came with the notebook, a black FriXion pen, and a microfiber towel.

Design and features

The Rocketbook Mini Everlast looks and feels like a traditional paper notebook, but the pages are actually made from a synthetic blend that repels water and is very difficult to rip or tear (I know. I tried). Thick covers and a heavy plastic coil binding make this a deceptively tough little notepad. It’s been kicking around as part of my daily kit for a month now with no signs of wear and tear other than a few random scratches.

Erasable pages

The key feature to the Rocketbook Mini Everlast is it’s erasability and re-use. Designed specifically for use with Pilot’s FriXion pens, the ink bonds to the pages after about 15 seconds. 

To erase, you add a bit of water and wipe down the page. Once it dries, you’re good to add more notes. Theoretically, you could reuse the pages an infinite number of times. I did notice that a bit of residue can build up on the pages. A thorough scrub takes care of the worst of it. Since the notebook is waterproof, you could do this in the sink.

The notebook has 24 double-sided pages that give you plenty of room for notes, to-do lists, sketches and scribbles before needing to erase anything. I did see some ink bleed-through when using both sides because the pages are slightly transparent, so I’d probably just use one side at a time for my notes.

One note about the ink: when Rocketbook says 15 seconds to dry, they mean it. The FleXion ink smudges rather easily, so so you’ll want to be patient before flipping the page. Something to keep in mind if you are trying to take rapid-fire notes.

Digitizing your notes

The Rocketbook Mini Everlast is designed for easy scan and upload of your pages using the Rocketbook smartphone app. Tap “new scan” to access your camera, and position your phone over the desired page. The app uses the pre-printed black frame & QR code on each page to align and scan your notes. Wave your camera over the page to position it for automatic scanning:

When completed, the scanned image is saved to the app. You can tweak the settings for scan quality, but I found it to do a great job right out of the box:

You can then send your page (or pages) to an e-mail address, an iOS message, or an assortment of cloud-based services like Google Drive, Evernote, or iCloud. The Rocketbook web site has a complete list of compatible services; add your login information to the setup and the app will store the info for future use.

You can customize the file format for each destination as a JPEG or PDF. You can also set preferences for sending bundle scans or even make animated GIFs from a series of scans. I sent this scan to my Gmail account as a PDF:

The Rocketbook app is set up with 8 different icons, one for each preset destination. You can use the cheat sheet on the inside cover to remember what your destinations and settings are:

The best thing about the app is that it’s an easy system to learn and use. The scan alignment feature saves fighting with your camera to get a clean shot of your notes, and you can send off your scans with a couple of quick taps. You can drop a day’s worth of notes and have them scanned and shipped in a few minutes.

Performance notes & use cases

I see the Rocketbook Everlast Mini as a bridge for those of us who like old-school note taking but want the ability to digitize our work on demand. Yes, you could always just take pics with your smartphone camera from any old notebook… but the well-integrated Rocketbook app adds an extra level of convenience and usability that some might find more useful.

If you’re a heavy note taker, however, you may find that the form factor here is not to your liking. The pocket-sized Everlast Mini really caters towards jotting down quick thoughts and scribbles, and the need to wait for the ink to dry does take away the speed factor. Rocketbook does make a full-sized version of this notebook that would cater to those taking extensive meeting notes, and the full-sized pages allow for a bit more time to let that ink dry before you have to flip your pages. If you like the idea of an erasable notebook but need more room to write you may want to consider the larger size. Check out the Rocketbook web site for more information.

What I like

  • Endlessly erasable format saves paper (and collecting old notebooks)
  • Durable design
  • Seamless integration with the Rocketbook app
  • Quick, easy ability to send your notes to multiple destinations

What needs to be improved

  • Waiting for the ink to dry may not work for you if you are taking rapid-fire notes

Final thoughts

The Rocketbook Everlast Mini Notebook is a clever piece of design that solves multiple problems for old school pen and ink note takers. The durable erasable pages can be used repeatedly. The app, while simple, is well-integrated with the notebook and has nice usability. It’s also offered at a really nice starting price point ($16 for the starter kit) if you want to test one out yourself. Just consider your intended use to see if it might work for you.

Price: The Rocketbook Everlast Mini is currently being offered through an Indiegogo campaign starting at $16. This kit includes the notebook, a FleXion pen, the microfiber towel, and a pen holder that attaches to the notebook. Other options are also available. Shipping begins in July 2018.
Where to buy: Check out the Indiegogo page for more information.
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Rocketbook.

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Rocketbook Mini Everlast Notebook review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 29, 2018 at 7:46 pm.

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