• I purchased the Levenger Circa PDA a couple of months ago, but it’s been languishing in my closet ever since because I couldn’t figure out what to do with it.

    Levenger Circa PDA Writing Sample Front

    Levenger Circa PDA Writing Sample Back

    1. It comes with 30 index cards that are ruled on both sides. The cards are ruled on the short side rather than the long side as is more usual. The lines are also pretty crowded, so if you write big letters, you might have to write every 1.5-2 lines.

    2. On the back of each card, at the bottom, is Levenger’s web address and a phone number in small print. It’s fairly unobtrusive.

    3. The covers are made of translucent plastic and are bigger than the paper by about a quarter of an inch. It can be a little annoying if you pick up the PDA by holding onto the sides. It would have worked out better for me if the width of the paper and the covers was about the same.

    4. The paper is punched on the short side of the cards, so you flip it vertically, reporter-style.

    5. The PDA comes with three Circa discs — 1/2 inch ones, I think. The size of the discs is a bit too much for just 30 cards. I think 1/3 inch or 1/4 inch would have felt much better. Right now, it feels like there’s too much empty space, and I keep wanting to add more cards to the PDA.

    6. You can, of course, move the cards to another Circa notebook if you need to.

    7. The card quality is pretty good. They are thicker and sturdier than the average index card you might find at Target or Staples.

    Levenger Circa PDA vs. regular index card front

    Levenger Circa PDA vs. regular index card back

    Overall, the PDA is all right to use. The card quality is nice, and the size is useful for throwing it in the car to jot down quick notes.

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  • Pens, Reviews 04.01.2012 No Comments

    Pentel Slicci 0.4mm pen

    Pentel Slicci 0.4mm pen

    1\. The Pentel Slicci 0.4mm pen is one of the thinnest and smallest pens I’ve ever written with. It feels different in the hand, but you get used to it pretty quickly.

    2\. The writing is smooth and easy.

    3\. The ink isn’t super fast drying. You might have to wait a second or two to avoid smudges.

    4\. There’s no feathering or bleed-through, but you can see the writing on the back of the paper on regular paper.

    5\. I’ve been writing with this pen for a couple of days, and I love it.

    Pentel Slicci 0.4mm pen writing sample front

    Pentel Slicci 0.4mm pen writing sample back

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  • Whitelines notebooks come with white lines on gray paper (hence the name) to clear clutter and reduce distraction. I’ve never been bothered by lines on regular ruled paper, but I heard a lot of good things about Whitelines and decided to try them out. I purchased a Wire Black A5 notebook a couple of months ago and have been using it on and off since then, mostly for notes but sometimes for drawings.

    Whitelines Cover

    There are several things worth nothing about the notebook.

    1. The orange on black cover looks clean and modern.

    2. The paper is easier on the eyes than regular white paper (as it was designed to be).

    3. Words, in general, did seem to show much better on this paper than on a regular graph paper.

    4. Each page comes with a logo at the bottom. At first, it was kind of annoying, but after a couple of days, I got used to it. Note that you can write over the logo without losing legibility.

    5. The squares are tiny. My writing is moderately small, but I still wasn’t able to write on every line without it looking cramped. On the other hand, writing on every other line made each sentence look like its own paragraph.

    6. The biggest drawback of the notebook is the paper quality. All the ballpoint pens I tried ended up looking to light. On the other hand, rollerballs and sharpies showed bleed through on the back.

    Whitelines Front

    Whitelines Back

    Overall, I like the notebook. It’s definitely worth trying out.

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