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.

FIGURE H

TealDoc can be viewed in landscape mode.

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.

FIGURE I

TomeRaider now has full screen, has grab-it bookmarks, and reads standard documents.

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.