I spotted the Tru Red notebook on one of my periodic trips to Staples. This is a house brand for them, manufactured in Turkey, with a variety of notebook styles, page formats and sizes available. When I saw that they had pocket size notebooks with dot grid and squared pages available, I decided to add yet another to my collection of Moleskine clones!

The Tru Red notebook has a nice feel when you pick it up. It feels a little chunky compared to a Moleskine (shown in comparison shots below), and the cover material is softer and more leather-like. The cover boards are somewhat flexible. There is some cover overhang but not the worst I’ve seen. For the most part, everything seemed solidly constructed and square except for the back cover overhang being a little uneven. The corner tucks were a bit ragged, with some raw edges showing.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The exterior dimensions are a little larger than a Moleskine– it is interesting that the dimensions they list on the packaging are 3.5 x 5.5″ / 8.8cm x 13.9 cm, as that seems to be the dimensions of the paper, not the cover, which is actually 9.3 x 14.5 cm.

Inside, you get fun patterned endpapers with a space for you to write your contact info. The inside back cover has a Tru Red logo, but no back pocket. There are two ribbon markers, which is a nice touch, and the usual elastic closure. The notebook opens quite flat, though there is some sort of stiffener in the spine that prevents it from tucking in, which would help it open even flatter when sitting on a desk surface.

• 

• 

• 

The paper is an ivory color and pleasantly smooth. At 128 sheets/256 pages, you get more pages than in most pocket notebooks, which are usually 192 pages. The paper weight isn’t specified, but it feels a little thicker than average. I had high hopes for fountain pen friendliness, but was disappointed– most fountain pen inks feathered a bit and showed spots of bleed-through. Show-through is a little better than average, though. If you are using fine gel pens or pencils, you’ll probably be quite happy with it

I paid $8.99 for this notebook, which is a lot less than a comparable Moleskine or Leuchtturm notebook. (It is available in Staples stores, and on their website, but the price there is $10.99. If you just search “Tru Red” not all products come up, so you may need to dig around more using the category search.) The Tru Red notebook offers more pages and a double ribbon marker, but it lacks a back pocket and the quality control may be a bit less rigid. Whether it is a good value will depend on individual users’ preferences. If you want something inexpensive and fountain pen friendly, the Taotree Notebook available on Amazon is a better bet.