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April 8, 2021

Eleven Discs Dot Grid Notebook Review (Super Smooth Paper!)

I’m on a mission to try all the discbound planners and notebooks. The latest I wanted to try is the Eleven Discs. The main point of difference for this one is the really smooth paper and the cover colors. Most discbound brands have dull, muted cover colors but the Eleven Discs covers are bright (pink, purple, mint, blue, orange etc.)

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking one of these links I’ll receive a small commission in exchange for referring you (at no extra cost to you).

Eleven discs discbound notebook review A5 dot grid pen testing comparison with ARC TUL amazon_04

Quick facts

  • Size: Junior / US Half letter size (US letter size also available)
  • Poly cover (multiple cover colors available – pastel in pink, purple, mint, grey and black)
  • 0.75″ Plastic discs (black)
  • 50 pages (the letter size version comes with 40 pages)
  • 120 GSM paper
  • Disc binding
  • 0.25″ / 6mm dot grid pages

Price: $23 USD

I purchased this notebook on Amazon.

Accessories available from this discbound brand:

  • Plastic discs in 4 different sizes 0.5″, 0.75″, 1″ and 1.5″ (black or translucent)
  • Aluminium discs (silver, rose, gold, black, grey)
  • Brushed poly covers (orange, blue, green, grey, black)
  • Cardstock and poly tabbed dividers
  • Page flag with ruler
  • Various refill pages (I’ve made a list later in this post)

Let’s take a closer look!

To enlarge the screen of the video, click the square icon in the bottom right hand corner of the video (it will say ‘full screen’ when you hover your mouse over the icon).

Subscribe to my YouTube channel for more planner videos!

Mentioned in the video

  • Tutorial for resizing any printable for any page size
  • Discbound notebook comparison
  • Happy Planner punch versus the ARC

The Cover

The cover is the poly material which most of the discbound notebook brands offer. It’s bendy but still sturdy at the same time. It’s the same material on the ARC and the TUL discbound notebooks. I don’t mind this material (it’s better than laminate) and makes the price of the notebook very cheap – plus it lasts for years.

Eleven discs discbound notebook review A5 dot grid pen testing comparison with ARC TUL amazon_03

Just under. 0.5″ thick (about 1cm)

Eleven discs discbound notebook review A5 dot grid pen testing comparison with ARC TUL amazon_02

The letter size version comes with lined paper. The Junior version (which I chose) has dot grid pages. There’s plenty of refill page options to choose from and you can upgrade to larger discs if you run out of space.

Refill pages:

  • Blank
  • Dot Grid
  • Dot Grid with subject and date box at the top of the page (either grey or blue dots)
  • Lined
  • Margin ruled
  • To do list
  • Project planning
  • Expense log
  • Mileage
  • Undated Weekly vertical (8am to 8pm with 2 lines per hour)
  • Undated weekly horizontal (lined)
  • Undated monthly (weekends on junior page size are split boxes)
  • Undated Day to a page (8am to 5pm with 2 lines per hour)
  • Graph (square grid)
  • Graph (‘engineering’ i.e. very small square grid)

Dot Grid Pages

Most dot gird notebooks have 5mm spacing. This one is bigger at 0.25″ (6mm) spacing. That 1mm might not seem like much but I’ve tried both and much prefer the 5mm. I write on every 2nd line so the page doesn’t become cluttered, but then I always run out of space quicker.

Related post: Trying out my custom Agendio bullet journal (is a 0.25″ grid too big?)

Eleven discs discbound notebook review A5 dot grid pen testing comparison with ARC TUL amazon_07

The mushroom head and stem look very similar to some other well known discbound brands: ARC, TUL and Levenger Circa. I’ve done a comparison at the end of this post.

Eleven discs discbound notebook review A5 dot grid pen testing comparison with ARC TUL amazon_10

If you’ve never seen a discbound notebook before (where have you been?!) you can pull the pages in and out, add, remove and rearrange them as many times as you like. You can add printables if you have a compatible punch as well.

Eleven discs discbound notebook review A5 dot grid pen testing comparison with ARC TUL amazon_09

Related post: Discbound punch comparison – ARC versus Levenger versus Happy Planner

Eleven discs discbound notebook review A5 dot grid pen testing comparison with ARC TUL amazon_11

Pen Testing

The paper is bright white. The paper is super smooth – one of the smoothest papers I’ve written on that I had to update this post to include it on my list.

Unfortunately, the pen test was disappointing with show through from marker pens (Uni Pi, Pure Color F and the MAMBI Stamps).There was some minor indenting from the pens as well.

Eleven discs discbound notebook review A5 dot grid pen testing comparison with ARC TUL amazon_13

Eleven discs discbound notebook review A5 dot grid pen testing comparison with ARC TUL amazon_12

Compatibility with other discbound notebooks

Eleven discs discbound notebook review A5 dot grid pen testing comparison with ARC TUL amazon_14

The Eleven Discs website says the notebooks paper and covers are compatible with the Levenger Circa, Staples Arc, Office Depot TUL, Office by Martha Stewart, and the Big Happy Planner (Letter sheets only).

I tested it with the TUL, ARC and Levenger Circa and can confirm that they are all interchangeable. The photo below shows slight differences in the mushroom head (larger for the Eleven Discs than the other brands) and slightly fatter stems than the other brands as well.

I tested putting the Eleven Disc pages in these notebooks and vise versa and they all worked fine. None of the pages came out when turning them on the discs.

Eleven discs discbound notebook review A5 dot grid pen testing comparison with ARC TUL amazon_16

TUL page in the Eleven Discs Notebook

Eleven discs discbound notebook review A5 dot grid pen testing comparison with ARC TUL amazon_15

ARC page in the Eleven Discs Notebook. Note: my ARC is A5, the Eleven Discs is junior – that’s why the pages don’t line up (different page sizes).

Eleven discs discbound notebook review A5 dot grid pen testing comparison with ARC TUL amazon_17

Discs

The product descriptions on the Eleven Discs website are very detailed telling you how many pages (and what paper thickness) will fit on each size disc.

This notebook comes with plastic discs that are half the price of aluminium discs. I’ve never had a disc break from my own use but my sister has had some she ordered for her shop snap in transit from America to Australia (whoeever packed the parcel didn’t even bubble wrap the planners). For me the plastic discs are strong enough (and also weigh a lot less) but the aluminium does come in a pretty rose gold…

Eleven discs discbound notebook review A5 dot grid pen testing comparison with ARC TUL amazon_06

Punch

I can’t find an Eleven Discs punch however since the pages are compatible with Circa, ARC and TUL you could use either of those punches with this notebook. My personal favorite of the 3 is the ARC. The punch is much sturdier and can punch through laminate if you wanted to add a DIY cover.

I did a detailed comparison of discbound punches in this post: Discbound punch comparison – ARC versus Levenger versus Happy Planner

discbound notebook comparison all about planners planners best recommendation

Pros of the Notebook

  • 2 page sizes to choose from
  • Reasonable prices for the notebook (and the accessories)
  • Very smooth paper
  • Bright white paper
  • Multiple cover colors to choose from
  • Compatible with other discbound brands (Circa, ARC, Tul)
  • Good variety of refill page options

Cons of the Notebook

  • Paper had some show through for thicker pens and stamps
  • No dated page refills
  • Junior page size monthly calendar refills have split boxes
  • if you buy directly through the Eleven Discs website they only ship to the USA and Canada. You’ll have to shop via Amazon to get this internationally

Would I use this Notebook?

Discbound notebooks are my favorite so it’s an automatic yes from me. I don’t like the extra large dot grid spacing in this notebook so I would probably mix and match the Eleven Discs cover with refill pages from other brands.

If you like this notebook, I purchased it on Amazon.

More discbound reviews:

  • Where to find discs to make a discbound planner or notebook (downloadable comparison)
  • Guide to Discbound Planners & Frequently Asked Questions
  • Dokibook Discagenda Planner Review – A5 Diva

See all discbound posts here.

Planning Tips:

  • Drawing bullet journal spreads on paper versus digitally on an iPad: whihc is faster?
  • How to make your own DIY discbound bullet journal, notebook or planner
  • Favorite washi tape for planning, planner decorating & color coding

Browse all posts

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eleven discs discbound notebook review pros and cons bright white smooth paper pen testing comparison compatible with arc tul

discbound notebook junior page size eleven discs versus the arc tul comparison pen test bright white paper

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Posted In: Bullet Journal, Bullet Journal Reviews, Discbound Planners · Tagged: 11 discs, 11 discs discbound planner, 11 discs dot grid notebook, 11 discs notebook pen test, 11 discs pen testing ghosting, 11 discs versus arc, 11 discs versus levenger, 11 discs versus tul, a5 discbound notebook, a5 eleven discs, best discbound notebook, best discbound notebook review, discbound notebook pen test, discbound planner, discbound planner review, dot grid discbound notebook, eleven discs notebook, eleven discs versus arc

Comments

  1. Nicole says

    April 8, 2021 at 23:23

    In the US, the arc notebooks are letter and half letter size. My arc and tul notebooks are the same size. 🙂

    Reply

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