While it has a good appearance and is big and has plenty of space, the main feature of carbon copying was useless. I wrote on the page and it didn’t copy over which very much frustrated me.

All in all, I like this notebook. There are pros and cons to it, and I will first address the cons:A lot of people have complained about this notebook, and essentially all of the 1-star reviews on Amazon are about the "deceptive" advertising for carbon-copy papers. I see two sides to this: for one, if you look at just the pictures, it does appear to imply that every sheet will carbon-copy automatically (in laymen terms). However, if you read the description at the top (below the pricing), you will see a description, while not entirely clear, that states that writings will copy with the use of included carbon paper, an external resource for carbon-copying. So, in truth, I have to disagree for the most part with these other reviewers when they see TOPS had deceptive advertising. They (the company) certainly could have made this clearer, though.And personally, for me, I find using the carbon papers to be fun. The sort of ritual that it engages you in is, I feel, similar to dipping a fountain pen in a bottle of ink to fill up the cartridge rather than using ink cartridge refills. I enjoy the cathartic effect it provides to me. However, I am thoroughly frustrated by the diminutive supply of carbon pages that this notebook actually comes with--only two! With a stingy writing style, I was able to make those two carbon sheets last for twenty lab pages. But now I have to go through the trouble of buying a new, separate pack.On the plus side:I find this to be a rather beautiful notebook. I'd say it is very durable, as after much mistreatment on my part (hasty stuffing into backpacks, tossing around in moments of frustration or exhaustion, etc.), the greatest visible wear is some curling at the corner of the red cover & back page and some ripping of the black layer of the bottom of the outer binding.The binding is very stiff. So this provides great durability of the notebook. That's the good part. But the bad part is that this makes it rather tedious and downright troublesome in writing towards the later pages, as the stiff spine causes the pages to each have the natural tendency to want to be closed.I also like the outline of each page. There is nice, comfortable spacings for titles and other info to write at the top. And the margins on the right side have a space-conserving purpose that I find quite helpful, given that I am right-handed. Not sure if this really helps left-handed people, but I appreciate the extra help it provides me. In addition, however, if you are left-handed, I imagine that this notebook could get especially annoying as you progress deeper into the notebook, since you'd have to go through the exasperating struggle of keeping the pages down whilst writing neatly. If you succeed in writing towards the left side when you are writing on the last fifty pages, and especially if you can write neatly, I would be very very impressed and I'd say you achieved a great feat. Even so, I'd imagine that if I were left handed, I would rather opt for a spiral-bound notebook, or maybe even a notebook bound at the top of the page instead of the side.All in all, when you use the carbon sheets provided for writing, the print left is beautiful. I especially like the canary-yellow color. I think it looks very beautiful, so this notebook certainly has a nice aesthetic appeal. However, after some use, the carbon ink runs out, meaning that writing no longer appears on the yellow page when you copy. This notebook is durable. Pages are kind of hard to rip out, but not too difficult. Just hard enough so that you won't accidentally rip out pages (like I admittedly have many of my other lab notebooks). The pages themselves are rather thick, so the sheets are individually durable as well, especially in comparison to the "leafy" and "feathery" quality of the pages of other brands of lab notebooks that I find.Ultimately, though, when it comes down to it, I really can't decide if this notebook was worth the money. It's very nice, but not so nice that I think it should be worth thirty dollars nevermind the original price of forty-something dollars. At the same time, however, I have found no other notebook like this at a lower price. So this notebook is rather unique, in my opinion, for all of the [good] qualities that I have described in this review. I don't think this is worth thirty dollars in value, but it's the best that I can find in this price range.

Time owned: 7 monthsProblems so far: It took me a little time to realize that it had carbon paper (just two sheets) in the back. However, the paper WILL run down before you run out of pages, so be prepared to get more separately. Once you get more than 20 pages into it, good luck keeping the book open. I have to weigh it down with various objects around the lab just to keep it from flipping closed again.Value: There are better notebooks out there. At this point it's not about the value, but rather the difficulties you'll have with this notebook.It will do the job. The pages are numbered, but there is no spot for a signature near the bottom. There are two pieces of carbon paper in the back, but they wear down after ~20 uses, so you'll have to buy more. The carbon paper copies onto yellow sheets behind the original white sheet. Pages do not tear out, which is good, but you'll have a tough time keeping it open to the page you're writing on. This is a real problem if you're recording results as you go along (say, making a measurement and then recording it in the book), which is how most people will use this.

Their definition of "carbon copy" is TWO sheets of carbon paper in the back that you must tear out and use. This book will not copy from the original white page to the duplicate yellow page as "suggested" in the photographs and description. Very deceptive. Do not buy with the expectation of having a copy of each page. This notebook is USELESS for laboratory or doctoral research.

Says there carbon copy pages in it but...no matter how hard I write, nothing gets copied over to the following page = useless, and waste of moneyMight just be the book I got but still a waste of my money

Order was received on time. It was well wrapped and ready to be used. I was able to use it for its purpose. It is not easy to locate this book any longer and I'm glad that I found it. I recommend it to everyone.

I'm a genetics research assistant at a large university, so taking thorough notes is a daily requirement. I came across this notebook when reading a previous tech's protocols, and had to get one for myself. Here are what I consider to be the pros and cons.Pros:*Presentation - this notebook is nicely put together, which is an important if subtle aesthetic quality in approaching research.*Orderliness - The grid layout of each page is great! Also, while I haven't really used them, the detachable carbon-etch pages would make for a great instant copy if you prefer keeping your notes in book and binder simultaneously.*Size - Again, a crucial factor in taking clear and concise notes - even taping down printouts of various results - not a problem with this notebook.Cons:*One-sided Pages - {Not so much a flaw as a personal preference.} The pages have only one gridded side. While this is fine if you write in Sharpie, or never take notes on both sides to begin with, I've found it has me burning through this NB a little too quickly.*Somewhat Inflexible Spine - Unless you crack the spine/binding of this NB, you'll eventually find your previous notes pushing back as you progress through.Summary:In all, this is a great notebook, and one of the finest I've purchased. In retrospect, I would have searched around more for my own needs, as I have essentially no use for the carbon-screen, detachable yellow sheet function that is so core to this notebook's design. I have since purchased another, much finer (and cheaper!) notebook from the Scientific Notebook Company ([...]) which has been fantastic. Explore their site if you're looking for the perfect fit!Hope this helps.