So after living in denial for longer than I expected, I finally caved and picked up an iPad (wifi only, 64gb — Rogers, my data provider, can eat [dirt] if they think I’m buying a second iDevice data plan). Anyhow, it’s really quite fantastic except for one notable and surprising thing: the App Store just completely sucks. It’s just awful — impossible to browse for anything, navigation is a joke, etc etc.

If you want to find apps, you basically have to rely on third party review sites. Here are three that I’m finding handy: App Shopper (great, everything), Touch Arcade (ok, just games), and 148 Apps (mediocre, everything).

We got the iPads on Thursday last week and I’ve been spending quite a bit of time trying new apps, games, etc etc. Here’s a quick list of stuff I love so far (all links go directly to iTunes, sorry).

Not Games

• Air Video ($2.99 but worth much, much more)
• Evernote (free)
• Dictionary.com/Thesaurus.com (free)
• Wikipanion (free)
• GoodReader ($0.99)
• Twitteriffic (free)
• Things ($19.99)
• Instapaper Pro ($4.99)
• Kindle (free)
• Stanza (new iPad version, free)
• Epicurious (free)
• Adobe Ideas (free)
• WordPress (free)

Games

• Dizzypad HD (free + not-free alternate game modes)
• Aurora Feint 3 (free: match-3-w/ rpg elements)
• Word Quest Plus ($4.99: wordsearch)
• Words With Friends HD ($2.99: Scrabble-alike w/ online play)
• Jumbline 2 ($2.99: word scramble game)
• NYT Crosswords (free)
• Amazon: Hidden Expedition ($4.99: hidden object)
• Bomb Master ($1.99: physics puzzler)
• Azkend HD ($4.99: match-3-ish sort of thing – free demo here)
• Orbital HD ($2.99: hard to describe)
• Backgammon NJ HD ($5.99, single-player only, very good)

Ok, that’s it for now. What iPad apps have you tried that you like and would recommend?

Updated to add Air Video.