.KEYWORD ebook0601
.FLYINGHEAD PRODUCT SHOOTOUT
.TITLE More document readers: a user’s perspective
.OTHER
.SUMMARY Larry Stedman has tried just about all the document readers available, and he’s reached some conclusions about which ones work best. In part two of this series, he’ll continue to help you select the ideal reader for your needs as he now examines the major shareware document readers on the market.
.AUTHOR Larry Stedman
After trying just about all the document readers available, I’ve reached some conclusions about which ones work best. Selecting an ideal reader is a highly personal matter, but it will help you to know which ones I like.
In part one of this series at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue200105/ebook0501001.html, I described the features of my ideal reader and reviewed the free ones. This time around, I’m going to look at the ones you pay for, the shareware and commercial programs. You’ll notice I rounded the prices to the nearest dollar. I hate the way vendors use the old retail ploy of shaving off a nickel to make the price seem lower.
.H1 AportisDoc Mobile Edition 2.21
AportisDoc Mobile Edition 2.21 (at http://www.aportis.com/tryme/download/AportisDoc/aportisdocmobile.html) has full screen mode, large un-bolded font, bookmarking (not the "grab-it" kind), and text copying, but the latter takes multiple steps.
.CALLOUT Beware! Deleting this reader also trashes all your documents!
It reads TealDoc bookmarks, and it’s responsive. However, it wastes space with four font icons on the bottom line. It requires 66K. It’s a solid product, but a bit pricey at $30. AportisDoc Mobile Edition is pictured in Figure A.
.FIG A AportisDoc Mobile Edition has full screen mode, large unbolded font, bookmarking, and text copying.
Beware! Deleting this reader also trashes all your documents! See the workaround I described in part one.
.H1 iambic Reader 1.02
iambic Reader 1.02 (at http://www.iambic.com/pilot/reader/features.htm) has "grab-it" bookmarking with advanced controls such as alphabetizing. It has excellent find features and big font. Alas, tapping the text window only scrolls by line. You must use hard buttons to advance by page. There’s no text copying either. You can get the text to display full screen via a dialog box. The grab-it text isn’t highlighted, and it takes a long time to open the first time (about 15 seconds for a 200K file). However, it gets fast later. It requires 178K and is priced at $20. iambic Reader is pictured in Figure B.
.FIG B iambic Reader has "grab-it" bookmarking, excellent Find features, and big font
.H1 iSilo 2.58
iSilo 2.58 (at http://www.isilo.com) displays HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) files and has good features: grab-it bookmarks with alphabetizing, large un-bolded font, and slick text copying. "Copy Text" enters the text copy mode. Select the desired text and then tap Copy to return to view mode. An icon is really needed for this.
iSilo has advanced scrolling features. You can scroll with the left or right scroll bar, by dragging text, or via actions for four screen regions–more options than needed for everyday reading.
There’s no full screen, no icon or pop-up menu for adding bookmarks (you have to use the menu bar), and bookmark options cannot be set within a document. It’s worth considering, though. The program requires 83K and is priced at $12.50. iSilo is pictured in Figure C.
.FIG C iSilo displays HTML files and has many good features.
.H1 MegaDoc 1.6
PalmGear’s description of MegaDoc 1.6 (at http://www.iambic.com/megadoc.htm) reads as follows: "MegaDoc is a text and document editor and viewer for the following formats: .txt, .rtf, .doc, .html/htm, and .pdb." The latest version can be installed from Macs. It has grab-it bookmarking, but it requires multiple taps and takes a long time to add them (in most readers, it’s near instantaneous).
The software needs a graphic designer. It’s got inelegant screens, with large boxy icons and banners that span three sides and hem one in. The menu button doesn’t invoke menus, rather it opens a dialog box. The program takes a long time to load and exit documents, so if you inadvertently tap the wrong document name, you’re in for a coffee break.
There’s no full screen available in read mode and no font selection, so if you’re looking to read ebooks, as opposed to editing or reading different formats, pick a different reader. It requires 265K and is priced at $25.
MegaDoc has been acquired by iambic, Inc., and they will soon introduce a new iambic branded word processor for Palm OS handhelds based on MegaDoc with an estimated release date of June 2001. All currently registered owners of MegaDoc as well as any new customers who purchase MegaDoc before the new release will receive a free upgrade to the iambic word processor when it becomes available.
.H1 QED 2.50
QED (at http://visionary2000.com/qed/) has most of the features I’d want, plus the ability to create and edit files. It’s got advanced bookmarking (not grab-it), full screen (clean but toggled via the menu bar), and the best text copying system: simply drag across the text and copy (tapping remains active for scrolling).
QED offers a special condensed mono-spaced font, with ample spacing around letters and lines. It shows 14 lines at a time and is quite readable (better than Palm’s standard small font). Document opening and bookmark scanning are fast, faster than similarly featured TealDoc. Speaking of TealDoc, both programs read each other’s bookmarks.
The Find and bookmark dialog boxes are irritatingly small; you’ll find it hard to decipher the choices because the buttons are labeled in a squashed, tiny all-caps font. And there’s still no searching backwards. QED needs standard Find-backward and Find-again icons. Although one can paste text into the bookmark window, it takes too many steps and won’t copy text from the bottom or top lines.
The document selection interface is awkward–the pop-up dialog box displays only a few menu items at a time. Changing a document’s category messes up TealDoc’s assignments, so they don’t co-exist peacefully. Overall, though, it’s got a lot of power in a staggeringly compact footprint. It’s my top contender. It requires only 34K and is priced at $20. QED is pictured in Figure D.
.FIG D QED has most desirable features, plus the ability to create and edit files.
.H1 Qvadis Express GT 2.02
Qvadis Express GT 2.02 (at http://www.qvadis.com/expressreader/gt.html) can display fewer lines, making text more readable. It’s the only reader that toggles full screen with a single tap in one place. It’s got a clean full screen, without icons or lines.
Qvadis Express GT has text copy, but it requires many taps and a dialog box. It reads but cannot add bookmarks. The software is fast at opening documents, but it bogs down if there are a lot of bookmarks, even in small documents. It’s got advanced Find features, but the dialogue box gets in your way and requires a tap to close. Other boxes force a choice–you can’t tap elsewhere to send them away.
One big problem is that it always displays the time. I want to know what time it is at my command–not be assaulted with it by the software. Qvadis Express GT requires 50K and is priced at $15. It’s pictured in Figure E.
.FIG E Qvadis Express GT 2 is the only reader that toggles full screen with a single tap in one place.
.H1 RichReader 1.62
RichReader 1.62 (at http://users.rcn.com/arenamk/RichReader.html) shows the time on the opening screen. This could be a negative, particularly at night when one may not want to be worrying about what time it is. There are no font choices while viewing a document. You must go to the document selection window, then to a font select dialog box, and finally select "View with Font." Then it takes a long time to change. Each time you reopen the document, it reverts to the smaller font, so you must repeat the process! There’s no full screen, but the bottom command line is much thinner than on other readers, so that’s okay.
My biggest issue with RichReader is it’s much too slow to load files. MegaDoc, PalmReader, TomeRaider, and WordSmith are also tortoises.
If you’re a Mac user,you’ll need to knoow that RichReader’s RTF (Rich Text Format) feature requires a Windows program to convert documents. Sadly, the software writer’s Web site indicates he’s waiting for others to step in: "I encourage developers to port these converters to the Mac and other operating systems." RichReader requires 50K and is priced at $15. It’s pictured in Figure F.
.FIG F RichReader has a thin command line at the bottom.
.H1 SmartDoc 2.0
SmartDoc 2.0 lacks full screen, but it has a large font, a read/edit toggle icon, and excellent document handling (backing up, privatizing). It’s got advanced bookmarking; it grabs selected text (or the top line) and can sort alphabetically or by position. Four font icons waste space. This program is no longer developed, but it’s the basis for Quickword (at http://www.cesinc.com/quickword/index.html). However, that’s not installable from Macs. The software requires 114K and is priced at $20. Quickword is pictured in Figure G.
.FIG G SmarDoc is the basis for QuickWord.
.H1 TealDoc 4.12
TealDoc 4.12 (at http://www.tealpoint.com/softdoc.htm) takes some time to "initialize" a file, but it’s speedier than most that scan for bookmarks. It may startle you when it first reads a document with bookmark tags (such as its own manual) because it automatically starts moving through the document. Subsequent reads are nearly immediate.
Version 4 adds a full screen mode, but it needs improvement. The program displays a square in the bottom right corner. This is a reminder of how to restore the command bar, but it looks like a checkbox, and I kept wanting to tap it. It’s particularly distracting in nightlight, blue-text mode. Ideally, you should be able to hide it and simply tap the corner.
The interface for toggling full screen is inconsistent, appearing in the form of different icons in different positions. In the default view, the icon’s a down arrow to the left of the bookmark icon. If the scroll bar’s visible, there’s no full screen icon at all! There’s also no menu option for full screen. Finally, one must tap the square squarely; otherwise the text advances.
TealDoc has a pop-up bookmark list with new editing features. They’re not the grab-it kind, but at least the label "Bookmark" is now highlighted, making replacement easier. Its alphabetizing/sorting controls belong in the "Edit" bookmark dialog box.
The software has text copying and un-bolded, large font. It’s also among the most responsive readers. It has great document handling–singly or as a group–it can transfer to TealDoc format and back or flag for back up. The software is frequently upgraded, which is a sign of an active developer. At $17, it’s cheaper than most prime competitors. TealDoc has grown from 50K, but it remains compact at 80K. It’s pictured in Figure H.
.FIG H TealDoc can be viewed in landscape mode.
.H1 TomeRaider 2.0
TomeRaider (at http://www.tomeraider.com) is greatly improved. It now has full screen, grab-it bookmarks, and reads standard documents. It runs slow as thick catsup, however, in loading documents and changing fonts. There’s no large, un-bolded font. Bookmarking is not a menu option, which means exiting full screen mode to tap its icon is a sluggish operation. It’s a proprietary reader, so buying it depends, in part, on whether you want to read the company’s offerings. It requires 96K and is priced at $20. TomeRaider is pictured in Figure I.
.FIG I TomeRaider now has full screen, has grab-it bookmarks, and reads standard documents.
.H1 WordSmith 1.11
WordSmith (at http://www.bluenomad.com/ws/prod_wordsmith_details.html) is remarkable. It’s Word on the Palm OS! It has the multiple fonts and character styles of a standard PC/MAC word processor. It replaces the Memo Pad, allowing centering, bold, italics, underline, and font choice. It has text copying and a clever toggle arrow to hide the bottom icon line. It has full screen mode but retains a distracting scroll bar. The full screen must be set via the menu bar and must be invoked each time.
You can now set the large font as default view for WordSmith. Otherwise, reformatting even modest sized documents is slow. If you add text to a document or change its font attributes, it almost doubles in size. You may rapidly fill up your Palm handheld with bloated documents. To save space, skip saving changes. It takes ages to open documents. Even those in its own format! However, re-viewing the last document is fast.
WordSmith reminds me of FullWrite on the Mac or early versions of Word on the PC. It has great formatting ability, but it’s nauseatingly slow. If you need to read and edit heavily formatted documents on your Palm handheld, WordSmith is worth exploring. But if you simply want a plain vanilla document reader, many others will serve you better. The newly released version 1.12 has added a Mac conduit. I may try it again once it also adds bookmarks. It requires 408K and is priced at $30. WordSmith is pictured in Figure J.
.FIG J WordSmith is like Word for the Palm OS.
.H1 Bottom line
After playing with many readers (but before I tried QED), I found myself using CSpotRun for basic reading tasks. However, its lack of bookmarks kept cropping up as I often wanted to flag an interesting passage. So for a while I explored a combo of CSpotRun and TealDoc 3.x–literally switching to TealDoc for bookmarking, then back to CSpotRun for reading on its full screen. Then I found MobiPocket. It has much of what one wants and is free. If they revamped its search algorithm to make it faster, displayed a normal amount of text, and included text copying, it would be one of the best.
When I first drafted this review, I wrote, "if TealDoc added full screen display, it would probably become my standard." Then version 4 added it. I was on the verge of registering it when I tried QED, an impressive alternative. I’m left in a quandary, undecided between the two.
What do these two programs still need to make them a perfect reader? Here’s the Lucky 7 wish list:
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET Quick, consistent toggling of a clean full screen. Tapping the bottom right corner–or pressing the Memo hardware button–should toggle full screen. QED needs this. TealDoc’s full screen should be free of symbols.
.END_LIST
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET Fast access to edit and copy modes. QED needs an icon for toggling editing mode. TealDoc should select text whenever one drags across it (even when screen tapping is on).
.END_LIST
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET Smart use of selected text. A selected phrase should automatically appear in the bookmark and Find dialog boxes.
.END_LIST
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET "Grab-it" bookmarks. Use the selected text as a first guess for the bookmark name (or if no words are selected, the top line should be used). If selected text is used, the cursor belongs at the end to add more; if the top line text is used, it should be highlighted for fast deletion.
.END_LIST
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET Instant bookmarks need an icon on the bottom line and a hardware button to instantly add bookmarks, bypassing the use of a dialog box. Select a word, tap an icon, and voila, bookmark!
.END_LIST
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET Screen tap for menu bar. Tapping the top line should display the menu bar.
.END_LIST
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET Hardware buttons should be used for key functions such as instant bookmarking, Find, and toggling the full screen.
.END_LIST
Still, as it stands, if you need the main quartet of features I consider important–full screen, bookmarking, text copying, and speed–QED and TealDoc are now the best of the readers. They offer a great reading experience.
TealDoc is worth its $16.95. For only $3 more, QED gives you editing capabilities and some faster operations. If you need your reader to edit documents, QED is the choice. It also gives you the chance to rewrite the classics!
However, as I haven’t completely outgrown the Memo Pad, I’m leaning towards TealDoc. I prefer its more standard interface and its ability to toggle full screen with a tap, set backup flags for all documents, change find directions, and, as I do lots of my Palm handheld reading at night, having highly readable dialog boxes and getting to bookmarks by tapping an icon. I also value its ability to privatize all documents in one step (thus preventing other readers from deleting them).
I hope this review proved useful to you. Please email any corrections, suggestions, or compliments to stedman@binghmaton.edu.
Happy reading!
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
For part one of this series in the May 2001 issue of PalmPower, visit http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue200105/ebook0501001.html.
For more information on AportisDoc Mobile Edition 2.21, visit http://www.aportis.com/tryme/download/AportisDoc/aportisdocmobile.html.
For more information on iambic Reader 1.02, visit http://www.iambic.com/pilot/reader/features.htm.
For more information on iSilo 2.58, visit http://www.isilo.com.
For more information on MegaDoc 1.6, visit http://www.iambic.com/megadoc.htm.
For more information on QED , visit http://visionary2000.com/qed/.
For more information on Qvadis Express GT 2.02, visit http://www.qvadis.com/expressreader/gt.html.
For more information on RichReader 1.62, visit http://users.rcn.com/arenamk/RichReader.html.
For more information on Quickword, visit http://www.cesinc.com/quickword/index.html.
For more information on TealDoc 4.12, visit http://www.tealpoint.com/softdoc.htm.
For more information on TomeRaider, visit http://www.tomeraider.com.
For more information on WordSmith, visit http://www.bluenomad.com/ws/prod_wordsmith_details.html.
For more information about Palm computers, visit http://www.palm.com.
.H1 Bulk reprints
Bulk reprints of this article (in quantities of 100 or more) are available for a fee from Reprint Services, a ZATZ business partner. Contact them at reprints@zatz.com or by calling 1-800-217-7874.
.END_SIDEBAR
.BIO
.DISCUSS http://powerboards.zatz.com/cgi-bin/webx?50@@.ee6f53a
