He's probably considering the fact that there are other high-end notebooks that cost the same or less, filled with paper of a much higher quality. Keep in mind

He's probably considering the fact that there are other high-end notebooks that cost the same or less, filled with paper of a much higher quality. Keep in mind that a person's personal preference will play a large role in how that person judges a paper's quality. There's Clairefontaine, Black and Red, Rhodia, Leuchttern, and probably a dozen or so others that I'm not aware of. Some might be a little more expensive than Moleskines, but some of them are much cheaper depending on the size and model you prefer.