Vela Hardcover Lab Notebook / 9 x 11.75/128 Pages/Grid

I was all set to give this notebook a five-star review, until the cover fell off. But you know what? It's still good.The paper is thick and high quality, no bleed-through and basically no transparency, with a nice subtle blue grid and page numbering. There are a few pages for a table-of-contents at the front. The Smyth binding really does make a difference--I leave it open on the desk most of the time and it lays flat, with very little tendency for pages to arch up, so I can easily write with one hand and not have to hold the page down with the other. The cover is smooth and ever-so-slightly rubbery, and as some others have said it tends to show smudges, but that doesn't bother me. What does bother me is that after just a couple days of use the line of glue that holds the paper to the back of the cover disconnected (see photo). A couple days later the front one did the same. They remain slightly sticky, so it hasn't really changed how I use the notebook--it just rests inside the cover instead of being attached to it. The pages themselves are very securely bound, so I'm not worried about anything else falling apart.Despite the cover issue, when it fills up, I think I'll get another one.Update: VELA sent me a replacement notebook. Though I haven't used it much yet, the cover on this one seems to be staying attached. I still find it somewhat annoying that the cover is connected only by a line of glue on the back of the paper, when the rest of it is so nicely sewn together.

If the book had not been handled carelessly, it would be impressive. The dented cover dents the book's rating. - The paper inside is as good as it gets, feels like 70 pound, high rag content, little if any clay, slightly polished. Best writing surface I have experienced. - The ink used throughout is unsaturated medium blue, very attractive and no strain at all on the eyes - basically perfect. - Organization of the book is exemplary, index on pages i to iv has a numbered line for each of the 121 usable paginated pages. - The pages are laid out just right, with one-inch margins and beautiful faint blue 5-per-inch grid lines. - There is a page of engineering constants that would apply to a tiny fraction of potential users, a waste of a page but a nice thought. - The cover is neutral gray with a tough plasticized paper skin on sturdy thick paperboard - virtually indestructible. Unless you count the gross dereliction that damaged the book prior to shipment to me. The packaging was adequate and undamaged, so the damage was done at Vela.NOTE this is a rock-solid 5 stars if they figure out how to deliver the books undamaged.

As an engineer who started out in the medical industry where notebooks were critical for product design and laboratory testing results tracking for both invention and FDA approval reasons, so a nicely bound notebooks is a MUST!!! While I moved away from the medical industry, the habits of a good notebook stuck with me as it just made good sense to do. As a result, I have worked with a number of such notebooks and this one is simply the BEST....hands down!!! Aside from its rugged construction (i.e. even spill proof covers), it has many small features that clearly show that this company connected with people in the various industries to put together a great product! The one key feature that I like the most is that the pitch of the squares that constitute the main pages of the notebook is the same pitch as that of the standard green engineering graph paper tablets, instead of the larger 4 squares per inch in other notebooks that I have used, and the "graphing" is done on a larger sheet and goes completely to the edges of this larger sheet. But the real "icing on the cake" that really makes this note the best, aside from setting aside pages for a author/owner information and a Table of Contents (TOC), is that it has this really neat reference page that has some amazingly handy reference numbers (especially the SI Prefixes from yocto to yotta) which are handy for ANY type of science or engineering profession!!!While this is truly the best notebook on the market, what will make it one that will shut down any other possible notebook for me to even consider are the following, which are really micro-critics and would just make me truly spoiled if they could make these enhancements to the notebook: 1) If the "graph paper" sheets used a thicker line pitch every one inch, i.e. 5 squares, like is done on the "standard" engineering graph paper tablet I would be in notebook nirvana...this might be a patent or copyright issue which might be why they did not do it! ;-) 2) While the reference sheet was truly the icing on the cake, it would have been nice if the reference numbers had more than 3 digits past the decimal point, like 5 or 6 digits as there is clearly enough space to do so at zero cost. 3) While printing the main pages in the "standard" light blue printing of graph paper is appropriate, the printing of the text in black for the Author, TOC, but especially the reference page, would have made things easier on the eyes.

These are beautiful notebooks at a reasonable price. A little heavy for toting around, but they are exactly what they need to be if you're looking for a hard-bound, thick-sheeted, page-numbered lab notebook. The cover has sort of a ultra-micro-fiber feel to them, they are smooth and matte but feel sort of like sticky velour to the touch.Unfortunately this finish picks up sweat, grease, or fingerprints like crazy. In fact, mine arrived with some disgusting greasy fingerprints (see photo) from the Amazon packer who must have just finished a mayonnaise sandwich. Pretty gross, and due to the nature of the material it can't be wiped away, it's permanent. At the price it's not really worth my time to pack them up and return them, even at Amazon's expense. And I'm sure I'll get my own grease on them soon enough. But the thought of having some sweaty stranger's greasy smudges forever stained onto them, pretty g.d. gross.EDIT: Had to return them. If there's going to be indelible greasy smudges on them, they need to be my own indelible greasy smudges.

I use a medium tip Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen with this notebook.I found the paper to be thick, and not bleed through at all, unless you let a little puddle of ink form. There is a small amount of feathering, but it was inconsequential for me. It also lays nice and flat, regardless if you are writing on the very first or last page, or the last page.Overall, I enjoyed this notebook and found it to be of great value for someone who uses a fountain pen.

Love this notebook. It lies flat and has an index. The grid is perfect for drawings. Could easily be adapted to suit other needs.