iPad for word processing/office apps - is it any good?

[mammadon]

How good are the office apps on the iPad?

 

[Dr McKay]

Pages works well for fairly simple documents.

You may also want to try Google Docs.

 

[Zcott]

They're great for basic stuff.

 

[mammadon]

Does Pages save files in MS Word format?

 

[Dr McKay]

Does Pages save files in MS Word format?

You can save it to .Doc but not .Docx

Or PDF if you wish.

 

[bjet767]

I have both pages and office hd and frankly office hd isn't worth the money. it runs slow and does not seem to have the formatting features of pages. However, it's file management is a bit better.

I use pages with a BT Mac keyboard as a replacement for my netbook I used to travel with. Except for the limited formatting I find pages is a great basic WP program. Now if I had to type solely on the screen I would probably have a MB Air.

 

[saberahul]

Does Pages save files in MS Word format?

I have had my iPad since day one and bought Pages only a few days back, mainly since many people on the forums suggested that it's a waste. Anyways, I'm very happy with it (it does not fully support all .doc and .docx features such as automatic table of contents or table of figures and bibliography but gets the work done better than any other app). This should help with more details.
Google Docs is extremely basic but can do. You can bold, italicize, and underline words and so forth. Don't expect media compatibility like Pages and more advanced features.
Docs to Go will most likely result in the lousiest service you have yet to encounter. I wouldn't recommend it -- seriously.
QuickOffice isn't too bad - I have only read reviews and since I haven't personally used it I can't offer much insight. You'll have to do some research.

Hope this helps.