View case binder from Unikeep

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Pros:

• sturdy
• fully enclosed
• stands upright evenly and stacks easily
• customizable
• eco-friendly, biodegradable
• cost is reasonable

Cons

• sometimes requires pieces from company to work best
• somewhat limited sizes

Review

At the NAPO conference in 2010, I came across the Unikeep booth.  Initially, the most notable thing was that their binders have a unique feature with the binder rings.  The rings, just like the rest of the binder, are made of 100% polypropylene.  As I was talking with them, I found out that they brought some free samples to share, so I looked through the various colors and sizes they had and picked one.  I’m grateful they did, I now have a blue 1″ view case binder.

Although the case itself is interesting, the rings are odd.  I was truly hesitant at first.  It feels unnerving to pop them up.  Since they’re made of polypropylene, you open each ring individually by putting your finger under the ring and pulling up.  It often makes a snapping sound and I have visions of breaking it.  Yet, I’ve never done any damage to the rings.  Snapping them back into place is easy too.

Another feature of the rings is that the placement of where the rings separate means that you can have pages anywhere in the binder, all to the left, all to the right, or somewhere in the middle.  This seems even truer with this product than even the typical 3-ring binders.

Their binders have a snapping closure to keep everything safe and secure inside.  The binders are rectangular, and the marketing on the back talk about how easily they stack.  Although this is certainly a nice feature, what I find more impressive is that they can stand on a shelf.  They are balanced, so they stay upright.  Yet, one thing I dislike about typical binders is that because of their shape, they don’t fill shelves evenly.  This could never happen with Unikeep’s binders, they’d line a shelf with perfect symmetry.

The line of view binders has a full wrap overlay so you can create and insert pages of the information or design you want.  Although I’ve not used it, they say they’re website has templates and tips for creating the insert.  With this feature and the line of possible colors, you can customize this binders to fit your needs, whatever that might be.

Their website has many different kinds of pages you can insert into the binder, from basic tabbed dividers, to pockets (with or without tabs), business cards holder pages, disc holder pages, and on.  The standard pockets pages with tabs do not fit in the binder, as the tabs are just a little too big unless you fold them.  This means that it’ll make more sense to buy the accessories from Unikeep.  I’m less annoyed by this than I might be since I find the standard tabbed pockets to be too big for binders too!  I might even buy some supplies from them to use elsewhere since they’d appear to be more appropriately sized.  I’m also intrigued by the “tear out” pages where you don’t need to open the rings – as I’ve been impressed with the material’s sturdiness, those “tear out” pages might be well done.

One of the first ideas for me was for my volunteering for the support group, I have this large binder that has articles and handouts for attendees.  As I talked to them, they acknowledged that they did not have anything that was big enough for that purpose.  Of course, I could carry multiple binders, or even consider the extreme case binder.  The truth is that my standard binder for this is now falling apart; it’s probably too full. *grimace* I’m now seriously considering these binders.

I don’t know about you, but I tend to overfill standard 3-ring binders.  It looks like there’s more room and I’m fighting that triangular shape.  With Unikeep’s design, you don’t have the temptation to overfill them.  The descriptions also clearly state the number of pages you can expect to get into their binders.

Under pros above, I listed cost as reasonable.  I was working on a personal organizing project, and wanted to pick up some binders and was dismayed at the cost.  So dismayed, that I bought some binders from dollar stores and whatnot to save money.  Those binders are now falling apart.  A perfect example of getting what you pay for, yet Unikeep’s prices are comparable in price to your standard binders with better features.

Now I love the idea of being environmentally responsible, though often put other factors higher on the priority list, like functionality.  If something is not functional, it doesn’t inspire me to recommend it or buy it for myself, no matter how environmental.  Yet this product is more than functional, and is 100% recyclable.  It also uses fewer resources to make these products.  So far, I’d even be tempted to say it’ll last longer and stand up to use better than your standard binders.  Now that’s great environmentally, but also great for us, the one who’s going to use it.

I’m not always a fan of 3-ring binders in general.  If you use them without accessories, you need to make sure to take time to punch holes in the papers.  This becomes less of an issue if you use the accessories of course.  I’m impressed with these binders, and even dropped a book into the case successfully one day when I was out and about.  The quality and design of these are wonderful.  I hope you’ll consider these for any potential need you have in the future (and I have no affiliation, they don’t even know I’m writing about them).

Do you have another binder that you really enjoy using?

Note: All my reviews are done without consideration for the company (sorry!) – as unbiased as possible! I don’t receive anything from any of them and most don’t know I’m even reviewing their products.

Overall rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Pros

• sturdy materials
• document sleeves actually hold items, even small ones, well
• slightly see through materials
• erasable materials, hence reusable
• designed to mix and match, to suit the user’s needs

Cons

• items in kit don’t work together well
• document wallet uses bad closure, it falls out or cannot be used if full
• clip tabs are bulky and fall off frequently, as well as don’t work with document wallet
• a little expensive
• erasable pen doesn’t write well
• post-it notes in wallet fall out (of wallet, not once attached by themselves)

Included in the [In]Place System Organization Kit:

•    1 Erasable marker
•    5 Clip Tabs
•    Document Wallet
•    3 Poly File Folders
•    3×3 White Post-it Super Sticky notes – 50 sheets
•    1 Poly Document Envelope
•    3 Poly Document Sleeves

Review

I was curious from the start, I mean it’s Peter Walsh.  I looked at it when I was in the store.  Have I mentioned how cheap I can be?  I could not bring myself to buy it.  I was not sure if I thought it was that exceptional.  The NAPO list serv had had mixed thoughts on it, which also gave me pause.  Then I was happy I hadn’t spent money on it since at the national conference, we were all given the organization kit and the post-it wallet.

From the moment I opened the kit and pulled everything out, it seemed like an odd combination of items.  They don’t work together the best although the kit does give you a variety of items to see what is available.   The entire line is intended to be mixed and matched to suit the user’s needs.  This is one of the strongest pros since we all have different needs and styles and I could never promote anything that tries to put people into a box – with a one size fits all approach!

I was impressed with the document sleeves, which just means that they have 1 ¾ openings and have a slight pocket like purpose.  The description actually says they have a 3 sided closure, this is not completely accurate, yet describes how it functions.  I was surprised at how open that 3rd side was, and unsure how well it would keep small papers from falling out.  It did fabulously!  I never lost a little note when I put it in there and this is no small feat when you think about how easily small papers fall out of file folders.

The clip tabs look neat, but their size gets in the way.  They are meant to be used with both the hanging folders (which I haven’t used) and the file folders.  When using them on the file folders, either as a way to hold the papers together or as a top label, the clips fell off frequently.  It seemed like the slightest jostling and they’d pop off.  They also do not fit on the file folders if you want to put those file folders into the document sleeve to carry them somewhere.

I’ve used the pen only to mark the clip tabs, and I needed to go over my words at least twice to make the ink dark enough to read.  I’ve not found any problems with erasing, and here is where the idea’s strong – the ease of relabeling something.

I like the idea of the document wallet, which is bigger than what I’d picture with the name wallet.  It is a nice sized container to hold file folders, document sleeves, and document envelope. It’s easy to carry around, so not too big or too small.  My only problem with it is the closure – it’s an elastic string with a ball that slips into a hole at the bottom of the wallet.  If you have filled the wallet, the ball won’t fit into the hole, and it has a tendency to slip out if you haven’t wedged it in well.

The file folders are sturdy.  Since they are made out of the poly material, they feel solid and they’re not going to get bent or crumpled.  They are slightly see-through so you can see what’s inside.  Since they are poly, the number of papers you can keep inside is limited, as you can’t resize them like typical file folders though I find this less important.  (We can all use some reminders to not overstuff our files!)

The document envelope is fine.  I’ve got some decorated ones from Divoga that I think I prefer since they are larger.  Peter Walsh’s document envelopes are paper sized, so if you have any papers that are a little larger, they won’t fit (unlike the Divoga ones).  Also, you are limited to how many papers you can fit inside.  Since it is the same size as the rest of his products, these envelopes fit inside the document wallet (and any other of his products).

Finally, the post-it notes are the super sticky ones and come in a neat closing case.  The problem arises that the post-its apparently don’t like sticking to themselves very well.  Every one of the 5 pads (each a different color) have fallen out of the wallet, though leaving a single post-it hanging on to mark where they’re supposed to go!  They do seem to attach to the poly material well, as none of those have fallen off.  This leaves the wallet as a useless piece of poly that can serve no other function.

Although there are certainly aspects that I didn’t like, overall I find the products to be interesting and useful.  I’m not convinced they are worth the price considering some of the problems.

Have you tried or do you use any of the Peter Walsh [In]Place products?  Let me know what you think of them.

Note: All my reviews are done without consideration for the company (sorry!) – as unbiased as possible! I don’t receive anything from any of them and most don’t know I’m even reviewing their products.