[joelande]

As a followup, I took the plunge and purchased CircusPonies NoteBook for iPad, which has nearly every feature I needed.

The biggest shortfall right now is there is no support for mobile access of files (DropBox, MobileMe, WebDAV), so everything is via iTunes sync only. (and of course no file sync yet).

Second biggest shortfall is a clunky interface for finding and opening a notebook (kind of like OmniGraffle's early interface of just a long (and slow) scrolling list of large document thumbnails, one at a time...)

Both of these features (remote file access/sync, improved document management) will be added in a new release soon.

I was really worried about the stability and performance of the app based on initial releases of the app and reviews, but I have over a dozen very large notebooks (I have had CircusPonies Notebook on the Mac for years) and have never had a crash or issue with the iPad app, so this version seems to have squashed those bugs.

It really is a very full-featured note taking app, with support for both free-form text and outlining (with auto-text formatting based on level and/or numbering), real text formatting, sticky notes, support for tables, file attachments, drawing AND sketching, audio recording (with time stamp sync to typing), auto-indexing, etc. Notebooks can be large with sections and sub sections (and of course, multiple pages).

When I looked at the screenshots and watched the videos on the iPad app I thought the pencil and ruler toolbars where gimmicky, garish, and maybe even a bit childish. But after reading the documentation and using the app, I find them very useful and intuitive (I was really surprised by this), and even very helpful for indicating which editing mode you are in.

Right now, it is a great note taking app.

When the file sync feature is done (probably now will be built around iCloud), it is going to be an incredible app.