Q: I'm an iPad owner that is overwhelmed by the number of applications available. Where should I start if I'm looking for something with which to take notes?
NOTE TAKER HD
$4.99 | Version: 4.1 | Software Garden
iPad owners who want to handwrite on their touchscreens confront an ugly truth about their beloved devices: sketching apps are lousy for scribes who want to scribble. Enter Note Taker HD, an ingenious solution that really works for most people. Its main innovation: a secondary, zoomed-in-view writing pane that lets you compose on a magnified section of the canvas. It's kind of like having a magnifying glass to write on. You write in this enlarged area and what you add shows up simultaneously, normal sized, on the main canvas. It sounds complicated, but in practice it's not. You also can highlight text and draw diagrams, but writing legible text: that's the show stopper.
PENMANSHIP TIP: The app's page or so of instructions is worth reading -- nothing complicated, but the special mini-editing frame takes some getting used to. A how-to video (http://bit.ly/bxpy2s) shows the basic steps. Highlights: Tap the Edit 2 button to summon the magnifier pane. When your writing reaches the edge, tap Advance to jump the magnifier ahead on the main canvas.