I've tried a half dozen Moleskine products over the past 7 or 8 years, and this one is my favorite. It's square-ruled, which is a must for me (making lists, I like having a column to align with, and engineering sketches "belong" on a grid). Compared to the pocket-sized products, this one is large--the trade off though is in writing comfort. But "large" is a misnomer--a legal pad is Large. This is 5"x8.5", so it's just large enough. I prefer the thinness and flexibility of this product over the hard-bound elastic-banded products, too. Thicker Moleskines mean that I'm carrying around a lot of old notes, plus they just take up more space in a bag. For me, having a thin notebook that I replace every few months is preferable. To each his own, however, that's the beauty of the broad Moleskine product line.