The Pen Addict 293/transcript

Myke: Really offend this is the pen addict episode two hundred and ninety three today show is brought to you by pension LA and blew a print my name is Michael and I'm joined by Brad Downey.
Brad: Hello my curly how are you.
Myke: I am very well.
Myke: Good.
Brad: Happy thirty eighth birthday.
Myke: Doesn't do it thank you.
Myke: Thank you.
Brad: Your old man welcome to old man town.
Myke: I'm well I mean now I'm the youngest in the thirties category rather than the oldest in the twenties category so actually it's an improvement.
Brad: It's a way better category I'll just tell you that in advance.
Myke: Yeah I feel good I feel like I've got my life where I wanted to be able to Thomas say is old so I'm feeling good.
Brad: Well I don't know if you got a birthday present for yourself but did you consider the bell war bell Roy work folio a five Mike.
Myke: I've been side eyeing it aside I loved our products you know we do another that bell right is kind of when I it's the way that I live my life a lot of time but I'm.
Myke: I saw this review I knew that you had this product because you mentioned it weeks ago and I have been keepin keep in the pan addicts dot com all panic dot com is the panic don't come to write you got that didn't you.
Myke: The guy.
Brad: Is and I I keep that up yes.
Myke: Okay good news us so I've been keeping my eye there and you finally put your view up.
Myke: And I don't want anymore.
Brad: It.
Myke: Is how I feel.
Myke: It doesn't look back.
Myke: It just doesn't look very good.
Brad: It looks amazing.
Myke: No I mean like that functionality wives.
Brad: Yeah right like functionality looks Soria.
Myke: Like cool well right products do which is just wonderful I'd be use and bell right wallets for a couple years now I love that wallet.
Myke: But this just doesn't XO like looking at something like this and looking at the the the the available functionality right from the bell right what folio a five.
Myke: I would get one of those mug mods things instead honestly right like if that was what I what I was looking for I would probably end up just getting one of those because they're way more customizable least.
Brad: Yeah yes so.
Brad: This was a difficult review to write because there's two very distinct parts of it at least in my head and whether that came out on the page I don't know but there's a.
Myke: Beauty.
Brad: In the design and the quality.
Brad: That bell right puts and all other things right that's why we like them right because they're really good at what they do.
Brad: Their quality is elite their designs are very functional.
Brad: For the most part I think they failed a little better the design element here.
Brad: And it revolves around the very specific use.
Brad: Of the eighty five notebook to.
Brad: Until this fully around.
Brad: So what this folio is designed to do is to carry you go on bell right they do some great videos.
Brad: You go on their site a you know.
Brad: So you had a load up all the pockets and you know have the little video on how to you know how they recommend a fill it out the problem is it's just not functional to get all the things into the folio that they.
Brad: Think you can.
Brad: Justin work well that way it's not to say that you can't do it.
Brad: It's just to say that you're probably not gonna be happy with the end result by the time you jam all these things in there so let's start with the most important thing for us which is the notebook.
Brad: Traditional a five like exact a five measured notebooks.
Brad: Fit.
Brad: You know with the hard cover summit let me rewind that a little bit they send with.
Brad: This folio.
Brad: In a five notebook but it's a soft bound soft cover thin like fifty page sixty page notebook and more circle back around to the notebook later.
Brad: But.
Brad: They didn't design this in my opinion around what most of us Penn addicts would consider a standard A. five notebook I don't I think a hope that that is the hard now to.
Myke: A fat thing to say like.
Myke: Everybody uses mosque in.
Myke: Right like right they all the most popular a five notebook in the world so.
Myke: I'd like saying like as much as well I spent excuse like this is just what he truly is.
Brad: So okay so.
Brad: I got you so.
Brad: When I say or when you say open anyone reads a five they're not thinking about the type of notebook that they included right out.
Myke: Not a paper right then notebook like people I think bring all of the hard bound notebook with about like two hundred pages in it whatever we have you buy that from rodia or late term almost game like that the notebook right like that is the work notebook.
Brad: Right so this tells me that they didn't consider that because their products specification say fits a five five by eight by eight point three inch notebook such as Fabriano most scheme and Rhodia most king is not a five more skin is very much not a five my most king does not fit in this case period.
Myke: Holy moly okay so what they sent that they all.
Brad: They can.
Myke: Can I hear the K. here right the a five paper thin is what that the paper standing about.
Brad: A foot.
Brad: Got a baby.
Myke: Boy that I mean this man I don't I don't know about this I don't I just feel like the looks like a very nice product but it is intended use case.
Myke: It cannot make.
Brad: So what this fits is.
Brad: A five ishe.
Brad: No books which that's not a thing but that's what is a common notebook size so like the barren fig confidante is narrower but not necessarily taller.
Brad: The story supply exposition is narrower but not tolerate taller so the wit not the height of the notebook.
Brad: A lot of companies make a narrower.
Brad: No book that one fits.
Brad: With the pen loop so I I complained a lot about how if you want to use one of these hard bound books you can have a hard time using the pen loop in the folio itself.
Brad: You gotta have a shorter than a five dimension in the with the narrowness of the cover of the book to be able to one fit.
Brad: A hardbound a five in number to use the pen loop in conjunction with that so I'm.
Brad: They had to have fallen short in their design process thinking that people are only going to use this thin soft notebook because if you use the fence off notebook that they provide you can fit all the stuff they jam in there.
Brad: But that's not the reality of a five world right.
Myke: No it's not all I mean like.
Myke: Dates fine too like technically.
Myke: Be correct.
Myke: Well I I think that the realistic.
Myke: Do not bear out let's just.
Myke: Rewind this a million steps let's just look at this product as it is intended to be used then right so we have looked at it and been like we don't think it works because of a B. and C. but let's let's look at it with the intended use of a paper.
Myke: A cover thin notebook jelly like let's look at.
Brad: It's fantastic.
Brad: It's absolutely fantasia re thing you want from a bell Roy product the left side of the organization.
Brad: You know the right side is the notebook slot the left side is your organization it's got four different slots two slots that our business card slash credit card slots there in this little fold back up piece that's very nice and then to.
Brad: I kind of stretch pockets one designed for a phone which that's a little bit and that's a little bit if especially if you have a phone case on whether going to get there but it stretches you could probably fit something and then like a pocket notebook maybe.
Brad: The internal organization is great except the front.
Brad: Left exterior like the little triangular pocket like where you would just slide likely sheets of paper and that's kind of not super useful.
Myke: But behind.
Brad: The thin notebook is where you're here tablet should go and all of that's going to work fine if you use the thin.
Brad: Cover notebook and I the thin covered then cover a five notebooks are a thing like that's a favorite thing of mine.
Brad: To use that style of soft.
Brad: Skinny a five notebooks but that's not what the world thinks of an A. five notebook is in my opinion.
Brad: So if you use it exactly as it is find a good a five notebook we sell when it knocked that's the one I.
Brad: Life makes a really good one a bunch of the Japanese makers make really good a five soft bound notebooks that's what you have to use a free to use this case if you wanna use your hardbound notebook you can use that to but you're not gonna be able to fit all the other stuff into it.
Myke: Basically at that point you just have a nice leather cover for your notebook as opposed to what this product is actually intended to be for which is like a system an organizational system for field work goods.
Brad: One hundred percent correct.
Myke: So like it it is less less that say like kind of the poor alignment that is like this is a good really good product when used as intended if you try and use it as it is clearly not intended you know gonna have so much fun with it but I do want to just touch on the notebook again that they actually ship with this.
Brad: Because.
Myke: That was one of the most eye opening parts of the review.
Brad: I've never seen anything like this in all the notebooks I've ever reviewed in my entire life I've never seen a notebook this bad.
Myke: Idea.
Brad: Do I need to elaborate.
Myke: I would like to know why I wanted just to confirm that we know high in hyperbole town.
Brad: We're not in the the issue is that it's such a smite newt part.
Brad: Of this review that it's almost not worth speaking of like I took three or four more pictures of all the flaws in the notebook but I was gonna put that in there an overload the article with what I've referred to is this is like complaining about the paracord on your zipper in on your two hundred dollar backpack right.
Brad: It's not equally as relevant to the product that you paid for.
Brad: But I've never physically seen a notebook as bad as poorly made as this one.
Brad: It's literal trash.
Brad: Not hyperbole but like similar the book away.
Myke: One of the problems one of the problem.
Brad: Well it set me off right when the front page has that tear in it's not even a tear it's like a.
Myke: Level.
Brad: Like a fitness of the sheet has been sheared off right there's not a whole there's not a rip there's not a tear.
Brad: That's actually I can get by okay there some kind of flaw with this.
Brad: And that's fine if that was the only issue.
Brad: The second issue is the papers cut so crooked that the lines throughout the entire notebook funnel towards the middle of the notebook.
Myke: Somewhere.
Brad: So it's a lines notebook except the lines are not you know parallel they're not straight they all funnel from.
Brad: Well on the left side of page left to right and the right side the page right to left they'll funnel towards the staple.
Brad: Third thing is that around the page I don't even know how to describe this because I've never seen it but everyone's probably had a sheet of paper.
Brad: That Dave stepped on or drop something on so like around the edge of the paper gets raised.
Brad: It's like that throughout the entire notebook.
Brad: And not even like right it's like worse on some pages better on some pages it's like someone went through it's like this whole thing got smashed but not externally.
Brad: Like it's not like someone dropped it on the corner the corner spent right that's not how it smashed up it's messed up from the insides.
Brad: Where the papers like recessed.
Brad: Against the edge.
Brad: It's hard to explain but it's it's a it's a bad book.
Brad: It's okay I guess it's like it was cut.
Brad: It was like it was the edges were cut with a hammer and chisel instead of instead of or of a razor sharp.
Myke: Cut you expect all of the notebooks that they're shipping a like this.
Brad: No but I expect there some because this is too many mistakes to be a singular issue.
Myke: So one person might get one of my most Mike another but you go all of them.
Myke: The lines.
Brad: The lines would be by biggest concern that they're all crooked.
Myke: That is really where it doesn't.
Brad: It's literally like a funnel down to the middle of the page it's awful.
Myke: I don't get it.
Brad: So but like I said it's hard to come plane about a five dollar notebook as part of a two hundred dollar.
Brad: But Leo but it was sort of certain turn off right I would be unhappy especially since you pretty much have to use that size notebook if you're gonna use all the other parts of it right.
Myke: They even sell the notebook though.
Brad: I looked and I couldn't find it.
Myke: Right said like really.
Brad: In a way I was trained price for it.
Myke: Yet they are intending for you to not use that notebook in the long term.
Myke: Then.
Brad: Right like it even more of an odd choice.
Myke: Yet to to even include in the first place ought to not just like I don't know what to someone bundling because what it looks like they do in I guess it is white label in something I don't know right like that the vine up these books and put in the logo on the front the minutes to come in the same.
Brad: For instance nice everything else is not.
Myke: It's very strange is very strange but interested still talked a little about.
Brad: I didn't I didn't I don't necessarily like to do that unless there's if I could there something wrong with the.
Brad: Folio itself but I'm not can in this case I wouldn't be concerned about the notebook because I wasn't gonna even if the notebook was pristine I still wouldn't use it right I would use one of my things.
Myke: Yeah but it is just an English is in consideration he I think usually we which pulled out and throw it to the side but because it is so weird it warrants discussion what what is your overall feeling on this product like I feel like it's a little bit all over the place.
Brad: You better be really sure you're gonna get the use out of it that you think you're going to get out of it before buying it.
Myke: Okay.
Brad: So it's.
Myke: A and.
Brad: If you are if you if you think it's going to be absolutely perfect for your set up you're gonna love it because it's made spectacularly.
Brad: It's a fan like.
Myke: Our apartment's run like it does yeah it's going to be a very well made love a good.
Brad: Yeah it's a perfectly made.
Brad: Beautiful product.
Brad: But it's not going to function for all of your uses so just be particular when you're shopping that it's going to to fit your use case and if it does you're gonna love it.