22 October 2010

Free For All Friday No. 101

Oooo I get the honour of introducing Free For All Friday (FFAF) number 101, they haven't been every week from the first one. It's only in the last couple of years that they have become a weekly thing. Yet they are a great source of information from all of our readers over the last few years.

They started back in June 2008, you can of course access all the previous ones, the easiest way it to click on FFAF in the label cloud.

But enough from me.... the floor is yours to discuss anything Filofax related.

24 comments:

  1. Last week I ordered a diary refill for my Personal, and what came instead was a Pocket Page a Day. I emailed the seller and he told me to keep the Pocket, and he would send me the Personal as soon as possible.
    I'm wondering what to do with the Pocket refill, I don't have a filofax that it would fit in!

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  2. I've ordered a Quo Vadis French insert. I hadn't realised that it could take up to a month for delivery as they order these in from France. I have decided to wait for it to arrive (impatiently). Just thought I would alert anyone else who wanted to do the same.

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  3. Alison: The delay might be something to do with all the strikes we have over here at the moment. We have so far been lucky getting fuel and we are keeping our tank above half so we can get to Dieppe in November for our visit to UK.

    I hope the wait is worthwhile, which size have you ordered?

    Steve

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  4. I am looking for a personal size filofax but I want one that isn't too soft or "padded". The Guildford being an example of nice soft leather but just too padded for me. I would prefer a model with the harder leather that they used on older filofaxes. Can anybody recommend a (preferably currently available) filofax?

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  5. Steve - I've ordered the Timer 17 for my personal filofax. When I called them he said it was normally a month delivery as they had to send off for it, but because of the strikes it could be even longer!! I gather that he saves orders until he has a few then makes one order to France, which of course would account for the delay. I can understand that they probably don't carry a huge amount of stock, so I thought I would post so others could plan ahead. I really wish filofax did a diary insert in this design. They do a 'sideways' similar version (i.e. landscape rather than portrait) which I don't like as I think the rings would get in the way when you tried to write in it. If I didn;t love my filofaxes so much I would probably buy the trinote diary.

    Gareth - The Kendal is a really 'hard' leather and very masculine. I had an A5 one and ended up donating it to a male friend who really loves it.

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  6. Hi Steve, guys, just want to let you know that I have already received the diary prize for the slogan contest a while back! :) Thanks again!

    My red A5 Finsbury feels so stuffed now after placing the new diary, so I think I might need to buy a new A5 Filo! :P I've decided to separate my work and personal stuff now since I pity looking at my overstuffed one now.

    I still want this new A5 to be Finsbury though, but in another color, maybe a more serious one for work ;)

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  7. Zairah: I'm pleased that the prize arrived ok. I was going to get in touch with you to ask, but I got diverted by other things... typical of me these days!!

    Alison: Yes it makes sense for them to do bulk orders, postage from France isn't as cheap as it is from UK to France.

    So far I've been lucky in picking up my QV inserts in local shops which stock the whole range... If I was to take Laurie in to our local store we would need to lock up her credit card!!! There's a whole section of the store devoted to planners at this time of year!

    There's not been much in the way of worthwhile Filofax posts on the net this week compared to usual, hence the general lack of posts from me. But I'm working on a couple of things that might materialise in to a post or two...

    Have a good weekend everyone.

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  8. Katie... simple answer... buy a Pocket Organiser on Ebay sometimes they are available without any contents... or out of date refills.

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  9. Steve: Haha I wish! Just one filofax for me at the moment!
    I think I'll sell the refill, and then I'll have gotten this year's diary for free :)

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  10. Gareth, why exactly do you not want a soft leather one? Is it fear for scratching in a bag or something? I also have a Personal Kendal in brown, which I love to pieces! The leather is rather soft IMO, but very robust. And since it's oiled leather (not feeling greasy btw), you can simply rub off any scratches or smudges with your finger tip. The Kendal has the most characteristic leather smell, reminds me of horse saddles.

    Another option would be the Finsbury. Not padded at all, rather stiff, but not leather on the inside. Or the good old classic. Yes it can scratch, but just like the Kendal, it only adds to the character.

    BTW, on ebay you'll find many "discontinued", yet new Filofaxes, like the Kensington.

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  11. I have the aqua finsbury (personal size) and it is stiff as far as getting it to stay open, but the front and back covers are pretty padded. The padding makes it easier for the leather to catch on things and rip, so I too would prefer something firmer, however I don't like the rough look of the kendal or the mesh inside pocket. I like the finsbury set-up with the leather credit card pockets in the front cover and the leather zip pocket inside the back cover. I just don't like the squishy front and back cover.

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  12. Steve LOL!! Yes this time of year drives me crazy, there are so many great planners out! Luckily for me I don't live near a store with much selection. Our WH Smith here in town has a very small Filofax selection (very small) and a few WH Smith brand diaries, but that's it. Not even Moleskine! Which is probably for the best, and is certainly better for my bank account!

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  13. Gareth:
    I'm not a big fan of the padded leather Filos, either. My favorite non-padded variety is the Malden, it's made of a medium-thick, flexible buffalo skin. No padding that I can feel (unlike the Guildford) and just generally feels better than anything else. There are lots of Malden photos in the Philofaxy flickr pool.

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  14. I have been following Philofaxy.com for some time now. Absolutely love Filofax and fellow Filofax users/owners.

    The first time I knew there was such thing like Filofax was back in 2000 when I was an international student studying in Uni of Edinburgh. They had this lovely Filofax stand in a college bookstore where I walked by very often. I couldn’t afford anything on display that time but just sheer admiration of those lovely leather organizers made me very happy.

    During my last year in Uni I bought a pocket natural Cross (now known as Classic). I still use it as an address book on top of the other 16 Filofaxes I’d purchased throughout the years. I just can’t seem to get enough of them like many people here.

    However, I’m getting more and more disappointed with their paper quality though. It’s hard to find a pen that fits inside the pen loop and also doesn’t bleed through the pages. I have tried both the white ones and the cream ones. I don’t know if anyone has the same problem or it’s just me.

    Also, I’d like them to give us more diary refill selection in the US too. I was coveting over that cream week-on-two-page with lines diary only available in Germany and some selected European countries. I tried the white ones in 2008 and didn’t like the paper quality.

    Can anybody give us some good suggestions?

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  16. Hi everybody thanks for your replies. very helpful

    Jotje - I've nothing against soft leather (I have Guildford Extra Slim, whih I'm using as a wallet) I have just associated soft with padded. I will look at the Kendal

    maranlov - I will look at the finsbury
    stirwise - Malden I will check out. From the pictures I have seen I like the style of this model

    Oh dear I think I might have developed a filo addiction. Still cheaper than my previous one, which was buying smartphones!

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  17. Since it's FFAF #101, have a question and a comment....

    A. Does anyone have any experience with the product Time/system? This is not a Filofax company product, it's different company. Product looks good online...

    B. At a recent FFAF, I posted about the above and saw that someone else had posted about this I thought. Contacted person and it turned out to be Filofax Time Management system product. Hadn't heard of it as I'm in US....and of course FF US doesn't sell it here.... ;)

    Would be great if FF would send more of 'the good stuff' across the pond.... ;)

    C. FWIW, I'm really enjoying my A5 Cuban Saddle Brown....

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  18. With regard to the paper quality, I agree. One reason I used to love filofax so much is that I could use my fountain pens without bleed through. Newer inserts are definately not a good a quality paper. I am actually prepared to pay a bit more to get good quality paper. I'm hoping the Quo Vadis I have ordered will be good.

    Also with regard to the pen loops - they always seem to be either too small or too large! I heard that on one planner at least they did a half leather, half elastic loop which sounds like a really good idea.

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  19. ArchiMark: I used the Time/System for a few years. Their product is very good. I switched to Filofax for a couple of reasons. There is so much more choice in Filofax binders, and in diary formats. Also, being in Canada, anytime I needed to order anything I usually had to pay $18 or more in shipping which was getting very expensive. Filofaxusa ships through Letts in Canada so I can often get my shipping free. The Time/Design forms are quite nice in both A5 and in Compact. I had tried Compact for a while but it was so small, it's about 1/2" (10 - 15mm) narrower than the Personal size and just was too small for me. The A5 binders I had from Time/Design were great quality but I was using zippered ones and they were huge. Let me know if you have any other questions. I think Jotje also has used Time/Design inserts.

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  20. ArchiMark: I'm still tempted sometimes to go back to the Time/Design forms in my Finchley A5. Much better paper quality, but that also makes the paper heavier.

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  21. One more reason why I switched to Filofax - there was a community! That was probably the biggest reason.

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  22. @ Plaiditude

    Thanks for all your feedback about Time/Sys product....

    I realize now that I wasn't clear that my question is about their paper pages, not their binder... in Item 'C' I noted that I'm very pleased with my A5 Cuban....

    My real point in asking about this is that I'm looking for the best page inserts I can find to use to manage my very busy workday and large scale multiple projects that I manage. Hence, my interest in products such as Time/sys or Filofax Time Management System, etc....

    Also, forgot to mention that I'm a bit retro and use fountain pens during the day, so, want paper that is OK for using fountain pen ink.

    I have found that Filofax, Franklin Covey, and Levenger pages are OK for using with pens...I just have to be careful not to use to broad a nib. Usually use a stub fine or medium nib pen...

    Any and all input on the subject of good pages for someone managing complex projects is greatly appreciated!

    Thanks!

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  23. ArchiMark: The paper quality of Time/System is great and takes fountain pen ink very well. The forms have a great balance between structure and flexibility. For complex projects etc. I don't think there would be any better forms and diary to use than the Time/System for detailed schedules and projects. Now I'm thinking even more about going back to them, but I also like the simplicity of the filofax forms.

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  24. @ Plaiditude

    Thanks again for your comments.

    Really helps!

    Agree with your point about that there's something nice about the simplicity of Filofax forms...will weigh that against benefits of other system such as Time/sys, etc..

    Thanks.

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