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Loving my iPad thus far. Can I get an opinions on some particular Apps?

M

MedicSteve09

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 28, 2010
13
0
Hello guys/gals. Not to worry, this isn't a "RECOMMEND ME TONS OF APPS" type of request. I've looked around, read opinions and such but was hoping I could get an 'interactive' Q&A session going on some of the apps I'm looking at that would suit my needs.

I am a Paramedic at a low volume ambulance district and spend most of my idle time during loooooooong shifts between reading e-books, reading blogs, keeping up on tech news, netflix, listening to podcasts and just aimlessly browsing the web. I have been using a rather robust 'gaming' laptop that I purchased on a whim a two years ago. I've since moved to console gaming so this system was just becoming a burden to constantly drag around, open and power up for a quick fact check, or sit in a recliner with this heavy & HOT thing in my lap. I have no experience with the world of Apple. I am a Verizon user so I dont have access to iPhones and have never owned a mac. I own an iPod touch 4g that I bought in october to try out the iOS experience.

I loved the Touch, it was such an amazing device, but the screen was just too small to use frequently for my time-killing web browsing/reading while at work so I started heavily researching the iPad. It seemed PERFECT for what I was wanting so bought one (After bargaining with the wife over the expense and letting her take over the Touch). This thing is brilliant and works great for my type of usage.

As mentioned above, I'm new to the Apple world of Apps. I am looking for a few particular apps but the reviews I find are usually for earlier revisions and user reviews on iTunes can be vague at times ("THIS APP IS AWESOME!!11!!" or "DON'T DOWNLOAD...SUX"). So I was hoping I could get some constructive criticism on what I'm looking at or a suggestion of something better that I may have overlooked.

Firstly, I am looking for a Word Processor and Spreadsheet. I can't decide between Pages/Numbers, Documents to Go, or Office2. The word processor is for simple journaling, typing up small handouts for any classes/training sessions. Keeping notes/points for classes/training sessions. The spreadsheet I use for quick number crunching, simple home budgeting, and tracking my 'time sheet' between various services. I see Pages and Numbers appear to get high marks and I was leaning toward them except I see they only export to iworks or PDF format and have no dropbox support. I'd like to still have editing access to my documents/spreadsheets on my laptop. Documents to Go appears VERY buggy from users opinions on iTunes. It appears Office2 may be a good 'middle ground' but all reviews I read on it are from an earlier revision and it received low scores at that time. Is Pages/Numbers viable for those who might need to spot edit on a PC? Is Documents to Go as buggy as I read? Does anyone have any experience with current version of Office2?

Secondly, I am looking for a robust RSS reader. In particular one that downloads subscribed feeds for offline viewing. There appears to be so many options out there but I don't want to get stuck paying for something that doesn't pull full articles for offline viewing.

Thirdly, a Blogging tool. It appears Blogpress is the best answer here and what I am leaning towards. Anyone have any experience with it? Complaints about it?

Those are the main three things I am looking for. Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
Tl;dr but ...
Documents2go
FeedHopper
Mariner software has a blogging app I think.
 
jessica. said:
Tl;dr but ...
Documents2go
FeedHopper
Mariner software has a blogging app I think.
Click to expand...
Yeah, was a pretty long post. I mentioned I was looking at Documents to go but all the recent itunes reviews was calling it buggy. Saying it crashed all the time. I used it on my black berry, then again on my droid so I was considering it for the iPad but the reviews are bothering me. That's why I was also looking at pages & numbers, and also office2

Thanks for the suggestion of FeedHopper. It seems a little more "sharing/social networking" than I'm looking for but I'll read up on it to see if it's what I'm looking for.

mikechan1234 said:
Wordpress is pretty neat if u have a wordpress blog
Click to expand...

I had been using blogger/blogspot previous, though it's a defunct blog. I might move it to wordpress so I'll keep that app in mind. Thanks!
 
Thanks for the Reeder suggestion, looks good

Any opinions on the office programs I mentioned above? I don't mind paying for the apps but am leery spending $8,$10, or $16 and it is lacking/overkill for what I need.
 
I like Office HD2 quite a lot with the integration of Dropbox. I've been using it since June and its consistently been upgraded I bought Pages first but it just doesn't function well for me. I really like Reeder for RSS though I also have Blogshelf.

Diane B
 
Have no input on these specific apps, but as a general rule, I always check YouTube for reviews/demos as well as the developer's site if there is one. That's often been the deciding yay/nay factor in any vacillating scenario.
 
Pages. Hands down. Especially for simple journal keeping. Don't mess with journaling apps. Wordpress for blogging.
 
In a nutshell I don't think you can go wrong with:
Pages
Numbers (not tried it but if it's as good as Pages...)
Reeder - easily the best RSS reader
River of News - 2nd to Reeder
DropBox
Goodreader

I also recommend PasteBot - lets's you store snippets from your clipboard to use later in your Pages documents or anywhere else you want to paste
 
I agree with Reeder as best RSS app, it's the one that made it to the dock on my iPad. Be aware that right now it doesn't allow you to manage your feeds, you either have to log into your Google Reader account via the web page or have another RSS reader app installed just to do the local management. Since I change my feeds quite rarely I don't have an issue with managing them from my desktop PC via the Google web interface.

For the office apps, it's worth also looking at QuickOffice. I have both Docs2Go and QuickOffice on my iPad, mostly for speadsheet work and, although Docs2Go did a big overhaul of their UI in the last upgrade and closed the gap a lot, I still think that QuickOffice has the cleaner user interface. I haven't had any stability issues at all with Docs2Go or QuickOffice but maybe I've just been lucky.

- Julian
 
River of News is my choice for RSS feeds, but it won't cache articles for offline reading. It will work with ReadItLater or Instapaper, though, which do let you read offline. The extra step may annoy, though.
 
Zcott said:
Big fan of Pages here.
Click to expand...
+1 for Pages for me. I use it nearly every day as I am writing a book. I email or synch it back to my PC in word format for backup. I would also use Word on the PC for finalising the doc but for everyday writing and editing I am very happy with it. I have not tried any other word processing app. Maybe will try googledocs when it's released on the ipad.

I also ended up putting my notes in pages but have also tried many other smaller notes and writing apps. Found now info is everywhere as I haven't finalized my choice.
 
Well, looks like Reeder is the majority choice and is highly recommended. As long as it allows offline viewing, then I'm sold.

I didn't realize Pages allowed saving in a Word compatible format. I was under the impression that it only saved in an iworks native format or export to a PDA file. Thanks for the heads up!

I went ahead and purchased office2. Horrible mistake. I found the current version extremely buggy. The blasted program glitches up to where if I tried to scroll in one sheet, it would be scrolling in a separate sheet within the workbook. A reload did not remedy it. Oh well, lesson learned.
 
MedicSteve09 said:
Well, looks like Reeder is the majority choice and is highly recommended. As long as it allows offline viewing, then I'm sold.

I didn't realize Pages allowed saving in a Word compatible format. I was under the impression that it only saved in an iworks native format or export to a PDA file. Thanks for the heads up!

I went ahead and purchased office2. Horrible mistake. I found the current version extremely buggy. The blasted program glitches up to where if I tried to scroll in one sheet, it would be scrolling in a separate sheet within the workbook. A reload did not remedy it. Oh well, lesson learned.
Click to expand...

Thanks for doing what you do (paramedic).

I like Docs to Go, but rarely use it. I bought Logmein and it allows me to do a couple of things I need to do with my job via logging back into my iMac, stuff my iPad can't do. I have yet to even create a doc on the iPad. I also have goodreader and it does the same thing I use docs to go.
 
+1 for Pages, which I find I'm liking more and more as a I continue using it. One useful feature it's got is the ability to share easily is multiple formats (.doc, .PDF, and the native .pages format) via iWork.com, which a free Apple service. You do this right in the app -- it formats and uploads the document, then opens an e-mail window so you can pass the link along to anyone you're trying to share with, and they can download the format of their choice.

For plain-text documents that don't need formatting, check out IAWriter. This would be my writing tool of choice if it supported rich text (which apparently is not possible on the iPad right now).
 
If the blogs you read have twitter feeds I highly recommend Flipboard... it a great way to read blogs.....
 
Question for those w/ Reeder...do you prefer the regular Reeder app or Reeder for iPad specifically?

I've just purchased an iPad (in transit from HK right now!) and was looking for a good RSS reader as well. Reeder seems to top the lists but there are 2. I want to be able to use it on my iPhone as well but would likely use it more on my iPad. Does it integrate w/ Read it Later? Or is there no need for that w/ this app?

Basically, I'm wondering if I should buy the general Reeder app for both iPhone & iPad or just use the free Slide Reader on the iPhone and pay for the Reeder iPad app.

Thanks!
 
Used Reeder on iPhone a long time, bought the iPad version immediately upon getting iPad, they are both worth paying for if you ask me.

The new option to slide left to send to Instapaper/ReadItLater is excellent.

I still send to read later if I'm in a hurry, Reeder iPad is so fast for scanning through your feeds and reading them or sending them to IP or RIL.
 
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