voodoopad lite vs journaler vs devonthink

ah! I got the taste of blood on the last “vs”!

All these applications propose to do, at their core, the very same thing: to be the user’s single repository of information, note taking, blogging, you name it. So let’s see how they compare to each other in a lab environment.
I don’t expect this to be a comprehensive test or, god forbid, the last word on the subject. as I am with operative systems i tend to be with apps: whatever comes, I’ll adapt. if it no longer suits me, I’ll change. very zen. but for your geeky enjoyment, here it is.

So what do I expect from my app of choice?
0 ) import from other standards (xml, txt, directory structure, whatever)
1 ) easy and quick input of new records
2 ) sorting, may that be by manually creating tags or by it’s own devices
3 ) quick search with meaningful results
4 ) export to something friendly and unambiguous
5 ) freeform input (add tables, bullets, images or snippets of data from other apps)
6 ) easy data alteration (what if I suddenly need another column on that table?)
7 ) automatic save
8 ) automatic backups

What would be “cherry on top”?
1) importing PDF’s and beeing able to highlight text, add notes, draw stuff on top
2) if not, easy link to pdfs altered with skim

Okay, we are off to a rather glim start. None was able to import a XML with a truck load of notes from Evernote (a freeware app for windows that proposes the same as these three osx counterparts). So my first plan failed miserably. I hoped to get things going with a set of “real world” notes. Seems it’s not all that possible with XML so I’m left to import directory structures with various files in each directory.

Okay, so I created a directory structure with a bunch of assorted files into it including RTF’s, PDF’s, XLS, DOC, and HTML (with accessory directory with pictures and stuff…just to see how the app reacts to that) I’m aware that I’m asking for the impossible with some file formats, but I’m using the file formats I use in my day-to-day life, so it seems somehow reasonable.

Right, on with it!

Journaler imported the directory structure with no problem, It wasn’t able however to present XLS and HTML (!) on it’s preview/editing pane, which is sort of strange. Every HTML is just a link to that same HTML file on the harddrive. you have to click not to preview but to launch the browser and view the page. Rather silly in this day and age. PDF files were loaded but they aren’t visible right away in the preview pane. you must click and then it show it…in the preview pane. again: silliness.
It did not tag or categorize any data, the directory structure can be seen on the left pane, but no automatic meta-data was created. Searching for documents is fast and accurate, much like Devonthink.

Voodoopad lite does not import anything. Period. If you want to import you can buy the proper version. Since I’ve already bought Devonthink so I’m not in the mood to spend some more to actually try and see if this works.

Devonthink was able to mimic the directory structure and kept things as organized as journaler, It failed to recognize the html’s associated folder so it didn’t display that correctly. It did not however import the XSL file, I suppose that if it can’t parse it there no point in presenting it. makes sense. but everything else was just fine. The search is impressively fast (going through about 90 files) and it returned meaningful results, not only searching the headers but also the body of the data doing even on pdf files.

Okay, with that out of the way and with Devonthink being the clear winner in the importing business, let’s see how the applications deal with tags.

Journaler keeps Tags and Categories in addition to the directory structure on the left. Not much to report, except for the fact that you can’t select multiple items and tag them all at once…you have to pick one by one. Smart folders can save some time, and they work pretty much like mail.app’s.

Voodoopad lite looks at things differently, since it acts more like a wiki then the others. the idea behind voodoopad is to link specific words or sentences to other documents. it can’t import anything at all, all your pdf’s and docs are left behind, and as a last resort you are stranded with some copy-paste action. With this is mind there is really no need for tagging since it doesn’t make much sense in this scenario. To work around that there’s the list of links at hand, and the search engine is fast and reliable.

Devonthink doesn’t use tags either, it depends on a folder structure (they call it “groups”) and it’s fine tuned search engine. So as stated before it works great, with meaningful results and it parses everything devonthink can get it’s bot pods on.

So there’s no clear winner on this issue, it all depends on one’s needs. If the user is a big fan of tagging, journaler is simply the only one supporting it. If a powerful search engine is enough then Devonthink excels and voodoopad follows…perhaps in second place in my humble opinion, only because it produces this uncertainty on how it will react (and how we as users will interact) in the long run, with hundreds or thousands of pages loaded into it. Perhaps it’s my paranoia, but I fear that my feelings throwards it also count.

Right! let’s go off to the editing test…what can these apps do?

Journaler can do tables, bullets and even checkable check boxes. nice. it’s pretty easy to edit tables and add rows or columns and inbedding images is just a drag away. There are no PDF editing capabilities. On the extra side (at least for me) you can add sound and video to any document.

Voodoopad lite does tables, and bullets, like Journaler they are easy to edit at will.

Devonthink acts exacly like voodoopad, tables fine, lists fine, but when it comes to dragging images it just links to the page on the browser. buuu!

Journaler takes this one home.

Saving and backups. (oh, and by save I mean the document being edited, and by backup a full backup of every single document into whatever format the app feels conformable with)

Journaler can do autosave of data, but no auto backup.
Voodoopad lite isn’t clear, but since I haven’t saved anything yet and it never prompts for the save I can only assume it saves on quit at least.
Devonthink does it all.

So Devonthink, this one’s yours.

Okay, now…let’s export stuff.

Journaler exports into a bunch of formats, from plain text, rtf to word to xhtml even to a complete web page.
Voodoopad exports single pages, or each page separately from an entire document to text or XML and to Ipod! Devonthink exports to rtf, plain text, word or as website.

All have pretty much the same features here, though Journal and Devonthing can export to RTF, which is nice if you use a lot of images, fonts and such…

Okay…so…what’s my personal bottom line? One thing is for sure: I wouldn’t use voodoopad lite for anything except something VERY specific. A home made wiki might make sense in a lot of situations, but for note taking…naaa…it didn’t make me feel comfortable.
So it’s down to Devonthink and Journaler. And on a personal note I must admit i’ll keep using Journaler… it’s opensource and seems solid. Devonthink has some really nice features that I didn’t mention on this pseudo-review because I don’t deem them all that important to note taking. Devon Technologies market Devonthink with the premise that it can scale to do much more then just note taking. And it can…it’s powers are quite amazing. But for simple, to the point note taking I will personally go for journaler. It’s an emotive choice? Sure it is. But so is using a Mac.

Later edit:

Anyone giving this review a go, should take a peek at Erik Shmidt’s review of Devonthink, KIT, SOHO Notes and Yokimbo. there’s other apps out there that I didn’t cover in my humble review that might just be what you are looking for.

And another brilliant review, this time by Daniel Jomphe reviewing Devonthink, Eaglefiler, Journaler, Notebook, Scrivener, SOHO Notes, Together and Yojimbo side by side.