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Comment by criddell | Hacker News Reader

> I also just tried out the new "sidekick notepad" from Cortex. Very expensive (overpriced), but I was happy to support their work.

The sidekick notepad is a pretty nice idea, but $32 + $12 shipping is a lot for a 60 page pad.

I've been using a Notsu dot-grid landscape notepad (great paper!) but it's 8.5" x 5.5". I just wish it was larger. The Sidekick looks like a pretty nice size...

How hard is it to get custom pads made? I'm guessing non-standard dimensions are a bit of a blocker when you only want to order a dozen or two.

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I've had reasonable luck at local print shops. They can do custom sizes in a plastic spiral binding for a reasonable price. I haven't found someone who can do a sewn binding, but I wonder about asking a leatherworker in town if his machine could do 30 pages if I bought a few spare needles.

The Notsu pad that I like has the pages held in by some glue along the edge. I like it better than a spiral and I think I like it better than the tear-away style that the Sidekick is using. The glue seems relatively easy to do, so all I really need is somebody to print me 12" x 7" dot-grid pages.

The minimalismart.com softcovers that GP linked to have a B5 (10x7.6) size as well, including dot grid option.

True, but it isn't landscape and it doesn't look like the pages are designed to tear out cleanly and easily.

Can confirm, they are not tear-friendly.

If you haven't looked at them before, the Rhodia dotPad or Top Wirebound Notepad might be a fit for you and usable in either orientation. Rhodia's "pad" products seem to all have perforated pages (they tear nicely) where the "book" products are non-perforated.

Edit: the wirebound has an A4 size page option, the dotPad has an A4 and a longer-than-A4 option. ~$10-16 depending on color and where you order, Amazon is not the cheapest option out there.

The longer-than-A4 option is intriguing. I’m wondering if a print shop would be able to cut off the top binding and change it to a glue edge along one of the long sides?

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