Dingbats* - Wildlife Dotted Extra Large A4 Notebook - PU Leather Hardcover Journal for Work, Writing - Pocket, Elastic Closure, Pen Holder, Bookmark

This is definitely now my go-to for bullet journaling. It's a bit bigger than a traditional notebook, which gives plenty of room for any desired layout without being oversized. There are 38 dots across the page and 53 down. Each dot is half a centimeter so I'm able to use a ruler to quickly mark divisions. The materials are vegan and I love the feel of the paper as it dries ink quickly so that it doesn't smudge (I'm just using G2 pens). There's minimal bleed-through when writing on both sides of a page, I don't find it distracting like I do with other brands that use thinner stock. The elastic closure, pen holder, and back pocket are nice features, and I love the wildlife style.The pages are all perforated which isn't a feature I really need, but I know some people like having perforations available. I initially had some trouble with the perforations wearing down in my medium-sized notebook from Dingbats. What I've learned is that it helps to go through the whole journal when you first get it and turn every so-many pages and gently press along the length of the centerline. This ensures that the pages will fold from the binding when you turn them rather than starting to fold along the perforations and weaken over time. Invisible tape or washi tape are also helpful for reinforcing the ends of the perforations so they can't start tearing.As for the company, Dingbats customer service has really impressed me. They jumped right in to help when I had trouble with the first notebook, and as a result I'm sure I'll be using their products for many years to come.

Sorry for my terrible handwriting in the photo, but this was a photo I had of the bigger A4 and also the A5+ slightly shown in the background, eventually I might get around to taking a better photo.I use the A5 for my regular bujo and then the larger A4 I decided to get because my church notes/devos were making me go through my A5+ way too fast, and I liked the idea of having a dedicated place for that to look back on (Index-wise it got messy in my A5). I wrote a review on the A5+ as well but I will try and cover it all here. For BOTH A4 and A5+ with comparison.I was worried when I read "microperforations" because I am not gentle with my pages and didn't want to accidentally rip them when flipping -- NO problem here! The microperforations make it a breeze to rip when you want it to, where you want it to, but when flipping, these pages are so sturdy.The pages are nice and thick, absolutely NO bleeding or show-thru with ANY of my markers. I use sharpies, colored gel pens, highlighters, regular coloring markers, ballpoint pen. Pages are an off-white color, which I think looks nice. It's not TOO yellowed. It's practically white. Just has a kind of vintage look to it imo that I love. But **might(?)** be an issue with whiteout? I don't use whiteout so can't tell you.Size of the A5+ is perfect. A bit bigger than a regular A5 of other brands, but barely noticeable, and fits perfectly in my purse or anywhere I need to put it. Allows just that much more space to write.Size of A4 is a bit longer/taller than a Five Star spiral notebook by about an inch. But it is slimmer width-wide by about an inch. It's a great size in my opinion. Any bag you put it in, you'd be more worried about width than length, usually, so great choice for that. It's also subtle, it doesn't look weird, I promise. I didn't even notice it was slimmer and taller until setting my Five Star on it to compare general size.I got the green elk/deer one for my A5+, and it's beautiful in person. Vibrant and deep in color. The A4 I got the blue whale and it is equally as beautiful. The engravings look way better in person, and feels nice. The leather feels like real leather. But these are vegan according to their website. VERY sturdy. Looks expensive, and FEELS expensive.

The paper quality is good, the size is great, the cover is wonderful, but the quality leaves something to be desired in the one I received. The first two pages were stuck together (not completely, just an inch or so) and when I tried to lay them flat they ended up tearing near the binding. I taped it down and glued down scrapbook paper over it to hide it, but it was definitely a bummer. There was also some sort of stain on the first couple pages (extra glue?). The binding was very loose at the front, but after a few pages it seems to have improved.I should have just returned it, but I had waited so long to start my bullet journal and everything else was just what I wanted so I decided to live with it.I would definitely buy this brand again but only if I was able to actually see and touch the one I was going to buy and make sure it didn't have any defects.

I bought this to use as a bullet journal for next year. Upon inspection, I LOVE IT! The pocket in the back is well-secured and spans the entire height and width of the back cover. There is a pen loop, which I forgot was on it, so it was a nice surprise! The pages are stitched together, not glued, so it should hold up really well. The cover is beautiful, thick, and hard enough that it shouldn't bend with use. I was really surprised at how big it was (I'm going up from an A5), so I know I'll have plenty of room for my spreads. The pages seem thick enough that I won't have to worry about ghosting or bleeding, and the dots are easy to see without being obnoxious.

As a left-handed person, I appreciate not having a spiral or 3-rings to contend with. I like the quality of the paper, because paper that is not smooth, when I "push" the pen rather than "pull" it as a right-hander would, non-smooth paper can make it difficult for the pens to flow well. Every so often a page disconnects and falls out, but so far that hasn't been a huge deal for me. I use highlighters on mine (midliners, actually) and they have minimal bleed-through - I can see that there's a mark, but it isn't enough to be distracting, so the paper is thick enough to suit. I have this very largest size, because, again, left-handed, some areas of books are difficult to write on due to positioning, so having more area available just works better. WISH THERE WERE MORE COLORS, and more CHEERFUL COLORS. DRAB COVER.

The paper is such a beautiful shade of ivory. There are notebooks with thicker paper out there, but this one meets my needs perfectly: I use it for writing rather than drawing. If you need something for water colours and more serious sketching and drawing etc, you should look for 150 or 160 gsm. For writing,100 gsm is perfection, not too thick not too thin. I also intend to use this notebook for my Japanese hiragana katakana and kanji exercises, it is great for ink pens, various ballpoint pens, and fude style calligraphy pens. The dots are just perfect for structure, but not too much structure. No bleeding! I saw some reviewers complaining that this notebook isn't sturdy enough which makes me wonder, did they stick it underneath a frying pan or did they subject it to some other kind of rough treatment perhaps? I generally look after my stuff well, and this notebook looks like it was made to last, and feels gorgeous to handle. The dark green cover is classy, reminds me of nature and woodlands, it's a very stylish shade of dark green, feels kind of grounding. I love the fact that this notebook is A4 size, I like a lot of space for my handwritten notes. The paper is such a beautiful shade of ivory, and feels silky and luxurious to the touch, a wonderfully tactile experience. Some other hard cover notebooks feel clunky - not this one. I tried using a 160gsm notebook, and although nice, that one's pages were simply too thick. In the past I used moleskine and paipur notebooks, this one is so much nicer. The way the cover is finished with a stitching, and the rounded corners - looks very classy, old-school kind of stylish. The cover feels strong while not being too thick. Perforation of all pages is an added bonus. I'm glad this notebook isn't numbered, if someone needs numbers and index pages, surely those would be easy to add manually. I intend to use this notebook for loose and lofty kind of doodling of random thoughts and ideas, the occasional bullet-style list, perhaps a little line drawing on the side. Occasionally I cut out pictures from fashion magazines and glue these on the pages of my notebooks, with my personal comments on the side, a bit like a scrapbook. Bullet journaling stencils are fun also - with enough space remaining for writing, without things getting cramped. The A4 format will lend itself for scrapbooking or stencilling purposes perfectly, there will be loads of space for notes and comments on the side of the fashion pics. Two A4 pages side by side is a wonderful space to play with, I like to create thought bubbles connected with lines, and arrows leading to the next bubble. It’s a great book if you need to plan events for a story - there is space for event-idea-thought bubbles, mindmapping-style. Very glad I ordered this book, and dark green is one of my favourite colours, very pleased. If this one has been on your list for a while, go on, order it now :D And there is a pen loop and elastic closure, loving it. Class act.

A notebook for serious bullet journalists. Recieved this today and I'm actually quite impressed by the quality. I started off with an a5 notebook but soon realised it wasn't big enough for my needs and therefore resorted to a temporary normal a4 lined notebook.This looks professional and is large enough for my needs. My only gripe is that the pages aren't numbered (not a huge issue as i like having the freedom of putting my numbers in) and the pages are thin allowing a lot of bleed through. This personally isn't a problem for me as I tend to stick to the original no nonsense sort of bullet journal and just use a ballpoint pen however i know there are a lot of artistic and creative people out there who like to decorate their books with all sorts of things like paint and felt tips etc.. This journal is probably not for you.Conclusion - negatives: no index, no page numbers, thin pagesPositive: does away with all the silly bells and whistles and gives you a basic book that you can customise as you want. If you follow the original Ryder Carroll method of bulleting and want to use it for work then this is definitely the journal for you. Also the binding is excellent and looks very professional.

If you are looking for an A4 notebook I think you can’t get much better than this. It may not have page numbers but each sheet is micro perforated so it makes sense.I bought Leuchtturm, Dingbats and Scribbles That Matter A4 notebooks and this is the best value for money as it has twice the pages of the Leuchtturm and is far nicer than the STM.

I love this notebook, especially for bullet points etc. Paper lovely quality, silky smooth and nice shade of cream.I would have given 5 stars but I have found the elastic around the book to be flimsy and is overly loose which is disappointing as it needs to be tight to hold any loose papers inside.Please look at making the elastic a bit better quality. Thanks Bee

I purchased this with the hope of gluing A4 printouts to some of the pages inside to help me build an A4 bullet journal. Sadly, due to the curved corners of the book that isn't possible. Also the back pocket is smaller than an A4 page, so you can't put anything useful in there without folding it up.The paper quality is very nice though, and if there was a version of this book that was about 2cm larger in each direction then I'd get one of those.