Quick Review: Bento for iPad
Bento for iPad [$4.99- iTunes Link] is a fantastic database option for users of Filemaker's Bento for Mac. It is a fast and simple database application for capturing just about anything from invoices to party planning to recipes.
I have been using Bento for Mac and iPhone for a while now. I was very excited to get the iPad version. Bento looks great. There are elegant themes that make Bento appear like a leather- bound book or clipboard. You can create a database on the fly from one of the supplied templates and sync it back to your Mac and iPhone. If you want, you can even make a database from scratch right on the iPad. When creating your database you have a choice of several fields including checkbox, choice, number, text and several more. Adding these fields to your new database couldn't be easier; click the pencil icon and drag the field to the workspace. Once placed on the screen, choose that fields properties. One of the more impressive features I found was the ability to add a Media field and insert a picture directly from Saved Photos on the iPad. There is a nice shadow effect behind the image and it looks really good.
Overall I am very pleased with the iPad version of Bento. The one feature that I would really like to see would be the ability to either export or send via email a record from Bento; there is currently no option to export data from Bento for iPad.
If you have an iPad and need to have a database with you, you will love Bento. Anyone from parents managing their kids schedule to a small business can use the portability and power Bento has to offer. For only $4.99, you are getting a huge value. If you aren't the creative type, you can always download templates from Bento's Template Exchange.
Check out the Video and Gallery after the break!
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There are 4 comments. Add yours.
The lack of a camera on the iPad is especially apparent with the recipes database. Unless you have the camera kit, you'd have to take a photo on your digital camera, copy it to your PC, sync with your iPad to saved photos, then add to the page.
@Schwartz Do you think the iPad was meant to have a camera in its product development strategy? I think it would be awkward and look strange to hold an iPad to take a photo, no? I know the HP Slate has one but Windows slates now need competitive advantage and they probably had no choice to throw in a camera.
Personally, I have a Canon Powershot S90 that takes the most incredible photos for such a tiny cam. I can count on its quality and have no issue with transferring photo to my iPad and iPhone.
They're saving the cam for a later version of the iPad.
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