VsNotepad 2.0

When it comes to taking notes on-the-fly, I will generally grab for a piece of paper and a pen. But why? I mean, I always have my trusty mobile device in my pocket and it has Microsoft’s Note app built-in. For a quick note, its OK but otherwise, it´s a bit lacking in many of the more advanced features.

New on the market as of 19th August is VsNotepad 2.0. And there is nothing lacking in this notepad. This is more like the good old pocket notebook made of paper and held together by a spiral binder at the top. And then again, it´s much much more than that too. Virtual Spaghetti, the developers of this app, have conjured up a well constructed, easy to use Note taking application.

After installation, you are asked to set up your first book. What´s a book? It´s where you keep your notes. You can have up to 32 books, and each book can contain up to 99 pages. So you could have a book for notes, a book for shopping lists and so on. Back to the installation process. Once you have created your first book, you´re ready to go. It´s as easy as that!

On the main note taking page there are two options bars at the top. Tools and Menu. From the Tools bar you have control over the main functions such as pen width, colour, underlining, Erase etc, etc. There is also a text function, in which you can add text via a virtual keyboard. In the menu bar you have the options to start a new page, a new book, change the language (restricted here to English, French and Italian) of the system and the keyboard and the Registration option and info. At the bottom of the page there are further options which are fairly well self-explanatory thanks to the clear icons; Waste bin. Exit, Calculator and page roward/backward. Despite all these menus and function features, the actual note taking area is still large enough to offer room for most needs.

Whilst setting up a new page, you have the option to pick a background colour for the page. So far, I have used this option to visually distinguish one book from another. For instance, my Testing book is blue and my Shopping list is red. But that is just my way of using the colour option. Certainly a feature that I like.

There are so many great functions and options with this application that I hardly know where to begin! Lets start with the basic function; note taking. Well, no surprises here. It does exactly what it says on the box. However, unlike the Microsoft Notes you are limited to the size of the page (just like a paper notebook!). If you need more space then you will need to start a new page. I can live with that. For writing, you can choose between three pen sizes and six predefined ink colours. If you don´t like the colours on offer there is also a palette function in which you can define the colour of your choice.

In the Tools menu there are also options to add predefined geometric objects; square, circle and straight line. Handy for when you are doodling or need to add a bit of artwork to a note. One thing I also found to be really cool is the ability to add “check boxes”. You can make a list of things to do or a shopping list and add check boxes to each item on the list. Not only that, you can add a “tick” to the box when the task is completed. The tools menu gives you the option to add text via a keyboard. Once the text is put in, you can move it around the screen until you find the place you want to set it. I especially like this function as my handwriting on a touch screen looks a bit dubious.

Certainly something that you won´t find in Microsofts Notes is a calculator, but VsNotepad 2.0 has one. Just tap the icon and up it pops. It also allows you to add numbers to your notes via the calculators keyboard. Again, great if your writting looks like a handicapped spider on a touch screen. Oh, and it works fine as a calculator too!

Another function that I found to be very useful is the alarm. This can kill two birds with one stone. Write yourself a reminder and then tap on the page number (top right of the screen). This then offers you the cjoice of saving the page as a .jpeg or setting an alarm. Setting the alarm is easier than making an appointment in your calendar. So from now on all my appointments will be made via VsNotepad 2.0

One thing that does irritate me a little is the fact that it needs 5Mb of RAM to work. I have a T-Mobile MDA Compact III, which doesn´t exactly have the most memory. So from time to time I have to clear the cache to get enough memory to run this application, For the new phones such as the HTC Diamond and it´s sister the TouchPro, this ought to be no trouble at all. But for phones that are a bit older it can be a pain in the you-know-where. When I use this application on my Dell Axim it runs problem free, but the Dell has much more RAM at hand than the MDA Compact III.

One more point, and this is a purely personal thing. Virtual Spaghetti have animated a lot of the functions. For example, when you put something in the recycle bin, the page is almost “sucked” into the bin. The menu and tool bars slide cleanly from left to right and right to left with no lag in animation, even on a device with a slow processor. A big thumbs up for the animation work. It adds to the feeling of quality. Nothing worse than having a great application that doesn´t run properly due to choppy animations.

And, just in case I have left anything out, here is Virtual Spaghettis own list of new features that are to be found in VsNotepad 2.0:

• Interface with fast and modern animation.
• Take notes on-the-fly, great for appointment, business, draw, list of shopping, etc.
• Standard tracing tools (sizes, colors).
• Creation of several customized books.
• Manage your notes.
• Erase and historical cancellation (undo).
• Reminder notes (alarm).
• Preview pages and fast selection.
• Geometrical tools: circle, rectangle and line.
• Multifunction calculator.
• Quick change of pages (without loading).
• Underline.
• Icon to simplify the creation of task list.
• Save by page or by book in JPEG format.
• Full screen.
• Possibility to include text with a virtual keyboard.
• Software 2x faster than the previous version.

Conclusion: This is a really great application for taking notes on-the-fly. It does what it says on the box and then a bit more. You can create a book for certain items, be it a “To-Do” list or a Shopping list or even a reminder, and it takes no time at all. It has more functions than you can shake a stick at and still takes up little space in your memory. It has an alarm function that is good enough to replace your calendar. However, on older devices with less RAM it can be a bind to get it running. It does require a minimum of 5MB before you can launch the application. But the acid test is…. Would I buy it? The answer is a definite YES! It does all I want it to do and them a bit more. The price is relatively high but it does offer a lot of everyday functionality. The plus points out-weigh the minus points.

Pros:

• Quickly make lists
• Lots of options and functions
• Alarm capability
• Wonderful animations

Cons:

• Needs 5MB of RAM to run
• Not totally intuitive
• Price.

Pricing & availability;
VsNotepad costs $39.95 and is available from www.virtualspaghetti.com

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