Top 10 iPad Apps

Top 10 Apps
VLC (free) - Video app. Unfortunately I don't think it's available any longer, but I prefer this over the default "Videos" app because it accepts more formats and I can transfere videos directly to it without having to set up iTunes to synchronize with my iPad.

GoodReader ($4.99) - A terrific app for reading various documents. It can be linked directly to dropbox, box.net, google docs, your ravelry library and various other sites, as well as download documents directly from the 'net. Would be worth it even at a greater price. It doesn't read epub-files unfortunately, but I can download them here and then transfer them to iBooks or Kobo to read them. I must have gotten it at a discount, because I'm pretty certain I only paid $0.99 for it. It's still worth it at the greater price though!

Cloud Reader (free) - Handles rar-files as well as cbz and cbr. It's only disadvantage is the layout of your library isn't very pretty. BookMan handles that a lot better, but on the other hand it doesn't turn pages as smoothly, so I've ended up downloading both :)

iColoringBkL (free) - A really cool colouring book where you can download your own PDFs. It has a large variety of colours, and you paint using your finger. Its greatest advantage is that you can set it to register contrast, meaning that if you start out with a b/w picture, it won't let you colour across the lines! I love colouring books, and this is the best electronic version I've seen. I haven't yet figured out what's extra in the full version - can't tell from the iTunes store - so I don't know if it's worth spending money on or not.

Flipboard (free) - A surprisingly fun app where you get to design your own magazine using facebook and twitter.

Friendly (free) - Good Facebook app.

iBookshelf ($1.99) - An app that will let you register your library on the iPad. It's the only one I've found that actually stores the database on the iPad, so it also works offline, which was a must for me. It crashes a lot, and the import could work better (the format is very rigid and the FAQ no longer online), but once I got that sorted out, it was the work of an evening to get all my books transfered to it. Now I just have to remember to keep it up-to-date!

My Box Office ($1.99) - The same as above, only with movies. Registers title, genre, format, status (owned, borrowed etc.) and whether or not you've seen it. Unfortunately doesn't have actors listed, which is my main problem with it. Also crashes often, but since my database is a lot smaller, it opens faster than iBookshelf ;)

Zinio (free, but magazines cost money) - Great app for buying/reading magazines. I'm not sure how much I'll use it myself as I think the selection is a bit too limited, but it immediately became a HUGE hit with Lars when he discovered it carried railway magazines :-D Definitely his favourite app!

Kobo (free, but books cost money) - Yet another ereader, but this one can be linked to Facebook and is made more fun by giving 'awards' for reading challanges (first book read, first book finished, reading through the night etc.). Quite a nice selection of ebooks available with free samples of most of them, but it's also possible to read PDF or epub files on it, which you can transfer directly or via GoodReader.

Top 10 Games
Plants vs Zombies ($6.99) - The most costly app I've bought, but definitely worth it! I love the PC game and it actually works even better on the app than on the PC. I feel cheated now - it was at least twice the price when I bought it! Still worth it though.

Beyond Ynth ($1.99) - A new favourite game. I downloaded the trial version and got so hooked that I had to buy the full version. It's FUN!

Cut the Rope ($0.99) - See above ;) This is fun and entertaining for children of all ages. My 5-year-old nephew blew me away by being great at it! Would be worth it even at a higher price.

Flight Control (free for the iPhone version) - Surprisingly addictive. I hadn't expected that at all. I'm now considering purchasing the iPad version, as I think it could benefit from the larger screenplay, but I haven't quite convinced myself yet.

Sudoku Joy (free) - My favourite Sudoku app. Works well both for filling out final answers and marking guesses, and has a good variety of puzzles. I'm getting really good at solving them too :) I started out on easy, but have now moved through moderate to intricate. Pretty soon I'll be ready for devilish :D

Sheep Mania Lite (free) - I think I may just purchase the full version before I leave for NZ, because this is a very fun puzzle game that I could see myself spending hours playing. It's silly, but fun.

Labyrinth2DHLite (free) - FUN! I'll probably end up purchasing the full version of this as well, once I've completed the trial. It's based on the original Brio labyrinths but is a LOT more fun than those ever were!

Picross HD (free) - Paint-by-Number' puzzles ala Conceptis. Fun as always, but could use some graphical improvement as well as a larger varity of games. Also, I wish conceptis would make more of its puzzles available! Sym-a-pics for the iPad would be GREAT!

Sudoku Colors (free) - Just like sudoku only it uses coloured marbles rather than numbers. Great fun when you need a break from the 'normal' sudoku.

Snake Puzzle ($1.99) - Yet another fun number puzzle where you have to connect numbers so they add up to the 'head' of the snake. Yes, I'm a geek, but I love games like that :)

Disappointments
Mondo Diary (free) - A travel diary that looked terrific until I discovered that there's no way of e-mailing entries to yourself or otherwise sync it to your computer. I believe it's probably saved in the iPad backup, but I wanted to be able to use it for my travel diary when in NZ, and it's no good at all for that if I can't afterwards transfer the entries to my computer.

Magic Piano ($1.99) - Definitely NOT worth it to me. I'd read raving reviews of it - that it was better than any other piano app out there - so I spent money on it, and was terribly disappointed. It would have been a fun toy if it had been free, but is not worth the money I had to pay for it - so I'm just glad it was cheap! :)

Angry Birds Lite (free) - Sorry, I simply don't understand the alure of it.