Moleskine Expanded Notebook Review + Another Rant!!

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Hello everyone! I really hope you’re doing well. Today, I’m going to do an actual review of this Moleskine Expanded Soft Cover Notebook. In my last video, I showed you how Moleskine has slightly changed the covers of their soft cover notebooks, and I wasn’t very happy about that.

Before I get started, thank you so much for all your comments. They really meant the world to me. I really appreciate you guys. Thank you so much.

Okay, let’s get started.

Overview of the Moleskine Expanded Soft Cover Notebook

This is a large expanded soft cover Moleskine. This is the ruled version, and it has 400 pages. Moleskine came out with this type of notebook a few years ago. The biggest difference, as you can see, is that it is double the thickness of a regular notebook. A standard soft cover Moleskine has 192 pages, and this one has 400, so you get a lot more pages.

It comes with an elastic strap and, instead of just one bookmark, it comes with two – one black and one grayish taupe.

Features

Let’s dig into this. It has a sleeve on it, and Moleskine made another change that I’m not happy about, which I’ll show you in a minute.

First, here’s the sleeve with some silliness on the inside. As I said, it’s a soft cover with rounded edges, and I really like how the paper perfectly lines up with the cover. This notebook is only available in one size, large, and it’s also available as a hardcover. You can get it in plain, ruled, graph, and dot grid paper. I have the ruled one here, with 6 millimeter ruling and dark gray lines. The notebook is stitched and bound, as you can see here. It also comes with a pocket in the back.

Cover Quality

In my last video, I ranted about how they slightly changed the cover. I managed to find an older one in-store that still has the older cover that feels better versus the newer ones that just don’t have this leathery sheen to them anymore. They just look and feel slightly cheaper in my opinion.

I got this older one, and let me open it. You can see you can put your name here in case of loss, with a reward. Here you have the Moleskine logo, a thicker cover page, and then it goes into the notebook with 400 pages. In the back, you have the pocket and another cover page.

Now, there’s a newer version of this. I have one here because I went to the store to find one that still has the old cover. This has a slightly not-as-shiny cover. I know it’s hard to see on camera, but it just doesn’t feel quite as nice as the older ones. They got rid of this little booklet in the back, which I think is great. It’s not necessary anymore; everyone who wants to know about the Moleskine history can read it on the website. It saves paper and waste, and it saves a few trees, so I’m glad they got rid of this.

Annoying Changes

However, what they did now is when you open it up, you have a manifesto written right here and a blank notebook with a call to action at the bottom. Then, in the back, there’s another scribbling with another call to action. I found it really annoying that I’m buying a blank notebook with the company’s ad in it. Every time I open my notebook, I have to look at this corporate ad.

I don’t know where the self-importance comes from with Moleskine, thinking people want this in a blank notebook. It really cheapens the notebook in my opinion. I’m definitely sending this one back because it also has the newer, not-as-nice cover.

Writing Experience

Back to the older version of the notebook. If you want to grab one of these, I suggest going in-store. I got lucky at Staples; they had one lying around, and I picked it up.

This notebook has 400 pages. Let’s go to the writing sample. It is 70 GSM paper. Excuse the honking; I live on a busy intersection. Here we have a pencil, ballpoint pen, several gel pens, and rollerballs, and then we have the Pilot Metropolitan medium nib with Diamine Marine ink. You can see there’s a little bit of feathering with the fountain pen, especially right here. When you flip it over, you can see there is a lot of ghosting and bleed-through with the thicker rollerballs and the fountain pen.

Moleskine does not have fountain pen-friendly paper. You do get a lot of ghosting, so you’re better off with a pencil or a regular ballpoint pen in my opinion. A really thin gel pen or rollerball pen might work okay too.

Pros and Cons

What I like about Moleskine’s paper is the actual feel. It is really soft, ivory-colored, which is easier on the eyes. I like the 6 millimeter ruling; it’s not too wide. Those are the upsides of the paper. It’s nice to have two bookmarks in this one as well, and it also lies open flat, which is another bonus.

The notebook’s size is 5 inches by 8.25 inches, or 13 centimeters by 21 centimeters. The back has the Moleskine logo printed on it, which I don’t mind, but I prefer a blank notebook without corporate stuff printed in it.

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