Getting a Surface 2 soon. App recommendations?

[moverton]

Hello all! I've been using a Windows 8 Phone for a little over a year now, HTC8x and love it. My next phone will be a Nokia, more than likely the Icon. Having come from Blackberry to Android to iPhone, I have loved the feel of WP8. I've been using Windows 8 on my desktop and really enjoy the experience. I recently sold my iPad Mini and will be getting a Surface 2 in the next week or so. Too bad that I missed the free touch cover promo but oh well. Anyway, I do a bit of tech support from my home for a few people and businesses and plan to use the Surface 2 with my work and troubleshooting, and personal entertainment. I'm looking for a couple apps to help me and wanted to see if there were any recommendations that you guys might have. Here is what I'd like to have:

• I create invoices for my clients and I have a DOC file that is a blank template. I'll just use the Office application for that, unless there is a better option.
• I'd like to have an app that would keep track of my jobs: hours worked, services performed, invoices sent/paid, mileage, etc. Is there anything like that?
• Is there an app that I could use for website creation? I'll be honest, a lot of the websites I have created have been all coded in notepad. Would like to have something that would work on the Surface 2 that might make things a little easier. If not, could you suggest a basic editor?
• Any other must have apps?

Thanks for your help!

 

[WillysJeepMan]

I recommend leveraging MS Office as much as possible. It's included and quite powerful though not really suitable for touch mode operation. I highly recommend the Type Cover 2 even though it is very expensive.

For website creation, depends upon who your host is. Using Google Sites, the web-based tools for creating web pages are excellent. If you have a different hosting solution and are looking to still code things by hand, I have found Code Writer to be a good text editor.

For cbz/cbr/pdf reading, I recommend Cover. It's not perfect but it is in my opinion the best (relatively speaking). If you'll be doing any ebook reading, I find Book Bazaar Reader to be acceptable. For artistic endeavors, Fresh Paint is fun. Flipboard is a good RSS/blog reader.

Be prepared to do a lot of trial and error experimenting. The app situation is still not that great and finding an app for a particular task can be a bit frustrating.

 

[kristalsoldier]

I recommend leveraging MS Office as much as possible. It's included and quite powerful though not really suitable for touch mode operation. I highly recommend the Type Cover 2 even though it is very expensive.

For website creation, depends upon who your host is. Using Google Sites, the web-based tools for creating web pages are excellent. If you have a different hosting solution and are looking to still code things by hand, I have found Code Writer to be a good text editor.

For cbz/cbr/pdf reading, I recommend Cover. It's not perfect but it is in my opinion the best (relatively speaking). If you'll be doing any ebook reading, I find Book Bazaar Reader to be acceptable. For artistic endeavors, Fresh Paint is fun. Flipboard is a good RSS/blog reader.

Be prepared to do a lot of trial and error experimenting. The app situation is still not that great and finding an app for a particular task can be a bit frustrating.

First time I heard of this...Got to try it out. Thanks.

 

[onlysublime]

Do you have a need to keep track of business cards? My coworkers and I religiously use Camcard. Works fabulously off many platforms including Windows 8/RT/Windows Phone. Of course, it supports iOS and Android.

But I run it on my Surface RT (which pales in comparison to your Surface 2) as well as my desktop Windows 8.1 machine and my Windows Phone. I take the image of the card on the phone. The program does the conversion to text (saving the names, phone numbers, websites, address, etc.). If I need to mass edit cards, I whip out the Surface because of the full size keyboard. Got my Android friends to use that app as well.

For a business that has many clients where you need to keep track of visits, sounds like you need some CRM software. If you find an ideal one that is compatible with Windows RT, let me know as my friends and I are curious. Some Android friends say to use Zoho (there is web access but I'd like a dedicated app).

 

[moverton]

In my searching I did find an interesting program that I think may take care of most of my needs on invoicing and billing. Invoicing, Billing + Time Tracking looks to do most of what I need. I have yet tried it but will give the trial a shot as soon as I can. Anyone here used it or can give input?

onlysublime: I don't think I will need to keep up with business cards yet but I will keep Camcard in mind. Thanks.

WillysJeepMan: Thanks for the extensive suggestions. I do plan on taking advantage of Office. Code Writer does look like a good program to use and may be what I go with once I get my Surface. My current hosting is with Namecheap and they have a control panel that I can access through the browser. Thank you for the other suggestions also.