Avery Economy Reference View Binder 1/2" Capacity 11" X 8 1/2" Black

Depending on what you need the binder for, the Avery Economy View Binder should suit your basic needs.

Features:

3 Ring "binder" with a heavy duty clamp that you can open either from the top or bottom clasps or you can grab one of the 3 rings and pull it open this way. (It's easier to open it by pushing down slightly on both the top and bottom.)

The cover has a thin plastic pocket, for lack of a better term, that is open at the top of the front, back and the binding edge. This allows you to drop in a cover page, back page or binding label if you choose for presentations or just for organizing your stuff.

Inside there are pockets for additional storage a some pages on the front and back cover of the binder itself. These will hold some items, but you don't want to stuff them too full of information. They are not secure and the plastic when pushed too far, will rip. (If you drop the binder, it likely will lose all of the loose pages.)

Pros:

The binder is decent for every day use. It's not like their counterpart labeled "heavy duty". The plastic the binder is made out of is thinner as is the inner "walls" of the binder itself.

Easy to use, just open the binder, open the 3 rings inside and store your items. (You will need a standard 3 hole punch to prepare your papers though. Poking a single sheet of paper over the binder rings will work, but it will not allow the page to turn effectively and will likely bunch up your pages if you are trying to turn them as the holes are too small to allow a freer movement of the papers in the binder over the rings.)

Having 1 1/2 inch (3.81 cm) storage capacity allows for quite a bit of material. But, if you start adding the dividers, it can fill up quickly.

They are light weight (until you get the binders loaded with materials.)

The binder's design makes it easy to sit the binder upright on a shelf without having to have the bookends to hold the items upright. The binder sides make a sturdy footprint allowing the binder to stand up nicely on it's own.

The binders have very strong rings binding in your materials. I have not had one have a weak clasp and lose my stuff. They have always held strong.

Cons:

Due to slightly thinner plastic material, the pockets inside can rip if stuffed too full. Some people love to put their pens/pencils in the pockets, but this will stretch out the plastic and after some time, it will rip along the seams.

Along the binding, I find the plastic near the tops and bottoms begin to rip slightly. I try not to be too rough on them, but if you do have regular use, possibly using them on your lap with a side being the table to write notes on, I find it gets worn out much quicker, especially if the inside is not filled quite full.

Pinching! The rings inside, when you are closing the rings after storing your materials, can and will pinch your fingers quite nicely if they get caught. They have an almost "v" shaped clamp and it will chomp on your finger if it gets in the way. To keep your materials safe, there has to be a great clamping shut of the rings.

If you store stuff in the front or back half pocket on the cover, the items can easily slip out.

If you drop the binder, the likelihood that the materials in the binder will either partially or completely fall out is pretty good. Overall, when I have had this happen I have lost one to two "rings" and the third ring has held my materials pretty tight. So, I have been fortunate to not have to rearrange or sort my materials, but I have had to spend a great deal of time putting the pages back onto the proper ring after I have dropped the binder.

Overall:

This is a decent product and is great for moderate to casual use. The price is a bit higher than some other makes and models, as I have seem them in office supply stores ranging from around $10 to $15. Avery makes a good product and I am not afraid of paying that price. (But, I always look for specials or bulk sales to drop that price down.)

~Thank you for spending your time with me today.~