TOP 10 APPS FOR THE IPAD

By Brian Freeman

After having an iPad for a couple of weeks, I've narrowed down the top 10 apps that all iPad owners must have.

1. Netflix - Allows you to get TV shows and movies instantly anytime on the iPad.

• Price: Free (however service requires subscription)
• Category: Entertainment
• Pros: The ability to watch thousands of tv and movies anywhere.
• Cons: The service requires a subscription.

2. GoodReader - PDF reader that supports a huge number

• Price: .99
• Category: Productivity
• Pros: Able to read huge PDF files and allows PDF transfer through iTunes which more expensive apps do not allow. Did I mention it's only 99 cents.
• Cons: Sometimes runs a little slow on large PDF files but nothing really to bad.

3. Pages - App easily converts all word documents to pages so you can word process on the go.

• Price: $9.99
• Category: Productivity
• Pros: Word process on the go and ability to import or export docs via email.
• Cons: Typing on the IPad is terrible. Pages is really a very stripped down version of Microsoft Word. Also users can not send documents straight to the printer which others allow.

4. School Notes Pro (note: possible name change coming soon to Sundry Notes) - A must have app for any student who owns an iPad. Allows users to draw, record, and research notes. Truly one of the best note taking apps for any device. School Note Pro has so many great features and innovative features.

• Price: Free
• Category: Productivity
• Pros: One of the best note taking apps and with the ability to upload notes to facebook, google, Twitter and Amazon Cloud only sweetens the free deal.
• Cons: Typing on the IPad is a pain and adjusting text boxes on the fly is tedious but the developer constantly updates so maybe possible changes coming soon.

5. Harbor Master - Okay, this is one of the most addicting games I have ever played. If you bought a iPad I am pretty sure your broke, so this nice free game is just for you. Beware this game is a productivity killer.

• Price: Free
• Category: Game
• Pros: It is pretty much Flight Control HD except without the $4.99 price tag.
• Cons: Doesn't contain multiple levels or co-op versus mode but it is free and fun so who cares.

6. ABC Player

• Price: Free
• Category: Entertainment
• Pros: The player loads extremely quick and ads only last 30 seconds.
• Cons: It’s not Hulu and only ABC shows.

7. Text Plus - Go ahead and call your cell phone company and tell them you need to reduce your text messaging plan. This completely free app let's you send text messages to any cell phone for free.

• Price: Free
• Category: Social Networking
• Pros: Absolutely free texting to any cell phone.
• Cons: The program is ad supported and some cell phones, most notably anyone using AT&T, will have problems sending messages to your iPad.

8. Wikipanion - Wikipedia viewer.

• Price: Free
• Category: Reference
• Pros: Quickest and easiest way to navigate Wikipedia on the Ipad. Also allows you to save articles to read when internet is not available.
• Cons: All the arguments about Wikipedia not being a reliable source of information.

9. USA Today

• Price: Free
• Category: News
• Pros: Free instant paper no subscriptions required from one of Americas most trusted papers.
• Cons: The app can be a little buggy however the developers have released two updates just this week in order fix some of the problems.

10. Comic Reader Mobi - This comic book reader can read almost any digital format of comic books available and allows custom viewing options.

• Price: 14.99
• Category: Comics
• Pros: Users can sync comics Quick and easy through iTunes or wifi networks.
• Cons: Using the app requires the user to customizes viewing options and this takes time and testing. The price is a little high for some users.

**Notable mentions: GodFinger free game kind of like Sims. Dragon Dictation a free talk to text program which will impress your friends. Pandora Radio free app that allows you to stream music from online stations. There a a ton of piano apps on the iPad but Virtuoso Piano HD is a free app and one of best apps that allows you to play the piano on the iPad.

**Worst Apps: Keynote Presentation program has some serious issues that need to be addressed crashes constantly. Flight Control HD $4.99 the price is way to high for this game. IDW Comicbooks great comic book company but the app doesn't compare to Marvel or X-Comics apps.