I can't speak for variously-coloured pencils, but I've had a lot of success with a grid-ruled moleskine (I usually went for hardcover, but after accidentally ordering a soft cover, I'm warming up to it) and a Rotring 0.5mm mechanical pencil with Pentel 2H leads.
For colours, I tend to use the Bic 4-in-one coloured pen (the one with the blue bottom and white top), though I don't bring that out often.
I mentioned in another post, but you need to try the Uni version of that Bic. I got a 3 color. I feels only slightly larger than a regular pen, and writes vastly better than the Bic. They’re more expensive in absolutely terms but still around $6.
For colours, I tend to use the Bic 4-in-one coloured pen (the one with the blue bottom and white top), though I don't bring that out often.