Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am quite impressed by the Panda Planner Pro. The cover is soft, but it still feels durable. It's certainly on the large side, but I like all the extra room it affords, and it still fits in my work bag nicely. The paper takes ink well with little bleed through. Also, I appreciate the positive ideals that run through the journal. I have used a ton of different journals over the years. I typically prefer blank, unlined journals that afford me the freedom to set up each day/week/month exactly how I want, but, based on the images I saw, this planner was going to arrive preformatted in a way that would suit my needs very well. Planners are very personal, and no template can satisfy every person, so there will always be some give-and-take when getting a planner like this. Overall, I like the setup, but I do wish the daily "Notes" section was more useful. Right now, it's tiny and stuck in the corner as an afterthought/space filler. I would prefer a bigger Notes section, which would be easy if "Tasks" and "Schedule" were combined and condensed. I tend to put appointments and meeting under "Tasks," so the the Schedule box -- which is a huge part of each daily page -- goes almost entirely unused. If the Notes section was larger, it would be a useful holding space to jot down quotes that I hear, names of a song that I hear on the radio and want to add to my playlist later, ideas for projects to work on down the road, etc. etc. etc. So, for now, I still carry around an unlined, blank journal in addition to the Panda Planner. The Panda Planner doesn't take the place of a journal (and, to be fair, it doesn't try to), but a blank journal -- especially when set up with the bullet journaling system -- can easily take the place of a planner. For now, I'm OK with carrying around both, but I wonder if I'm going to replace my Panda Planner when this fills up, or if I'll go back to bullet journaling in (smaller) notebooks that are significantly more customizable and versatile. The price tag is a bit steep, too. At $35, it's definitely on the higher end of reason for a journal that, while made with great care, is limited in its capabilities. Finally, I paid for a New journal but I was sent a used one with days already filled in! The Used planner probably just got a super-fast, cursory glance before being put into the rotation and sold as "New," which they clearly knew it wasn't. This is dishonest and lazy, to say the least. Plus, I had to box up the Used journal and drive it to the UPS store in order to send it back for a refund. Why should I go out of my way to fix your sloppiness and dishonesty, Panda Planner team? I read some old reviews on Amazon and I am definitely not the first person to be sold a used journal. I suggest checking yours carefully as soon as it arrives -- especially if you plan to give it to someone as a gift.