We spent hundreds of dollars and countless man-hours reviewing the first batch of iPad apps just to save you the trouble.

Here is our complete compendium of reviews, sorted by category, ranked by preference.

In other words, follow each of these links for a simple list of applications broken down by iTunes umbrella topics.

The applications reviewed near the top of each list are our favorites; the applications reviewed near the bottom of each list are often so horrid they aren't worth mentioning...beyond saving you the trouble.

So without further ado...