iPad Recommendation please for a good document reader (and annotator)

[yatesco]

Hi all

(First, being transparent; I have researched iAnnotate and readdleDocs (i.e. I haven't tried them). I have downloaded (and love!) GoodReader)

I want to find a decent document reader and it must have the following:

- tabbed interface so multiple documents can be opened at the same time (or at the very least a quickly accessible 'most recent' list)
- annotation and highlighting for all textual documents (PDF or Office)
- synchronisation with a cloud service (like DropBox)
- search across all documents for name, content or hand made notes

To put it another way, I want readdleDocs off-line synchronisation capability and cross-document searching, goodreaders *reading* interface (not its initial cluttered screen) and iAnnotate's tabs

Is there such a beast?

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by yatesco

Hi all

(First, being transparent; I have researched iAnnotate and readdleDocs (i.e. I haven't tried them). I have downloaded (and love!) GoodReader)

I want to find a decent document reader and it must have the following:

- tabbed interface so multiple documents can be opened at the same time (or at the very least a quickly accessible 'most recent' list)
- annotation and highlighting for all textual documents (PDF or Office)
- synchronisation with a cloud service (like DropBox)
- search across all documents for name, content or hand made notes

To put it another way, I want readdleDocs off-line synchronisation capability and cross-document searching, goodreaders *reading* interface (not its initial cluttered screen) and iAnnotate's tabs

Is there such a beast?

I like Pages ($9.99 at the Apple App Store - you must have the latest firmware version to run it). It doesn't have a tabbed interface, but you can quickly switch between documents and export them via iTunes sync or e-mail them to yourself in various formats (including .doc). You can edit the text and add formatting such as bold and italics, but any annotation as far as I can see would have to be inserted into the text itself. It's not nearly as functional as MS Office, but it gets the job done. You might also consider a physical keyboard. The iPad's virtual keyboard is nice, but it lacks up/down/back/forward arrows. I have Apple's iPad Keyboard dock, but they also sell a wireless model if you prefer for about the same price.

For cloud sync, I think you need to subscribe to MobileMe. I have no idea of the price, and all their website says is "Sign up for a free trial." That could be code for "You don't want to know!"

Pages doesn't do cross-document searching.