I'm going on an extended holiday through asia soon and would like to keep my iPad topped up with movies. It's an iPad 2, JB on 5.1.1. What I'm looking for is a way to use a PC in an internet cafe to transfer videos from a USB drive onto the iPad (either into the default video player or a 3rd party one). The trick is that I probably won't be able to install any applications on the PC, so I need something that can run in 'portable' mode off a USB drive. It's also probably unlikely that I could ever get both the PC and the iPad on the same wireless network, so wifi transfer is out.

I've looked at iFile and alternatives (all of which seem to need an install on the PC), as well as Airstash and similar. Whilst the Airstash would suit me, it's expensive, and being jailbroken I'm hoping there's a better option out there.

Is there any app out there that can transfer files over USB that doesn't require an installed application on the PC?

I'd say put "iPhoneBrowser" (http://code.google.com/p/iphonebrowser/) on your USB with the videos, connect your iPad to the computer like you would for iTunes, then move the files onto your device to an apropriate directory using the program (or if you use XBMC, any directory) for your video player (the stock video player can't play the videos because it would need iTunes to add them in).
Alternatively to iPhoneBrowser, if the wireless is on the same network (doesn't matter what subdomain), you could use FileZilla (http://filezilla-project.org/download.php?type=client) the second Windows link is the portable version) and SSH into your iPad.

If you buy an AirStash, you can transfer hundreds of videos, etc to SD cards and transfer or view at your convenience

Any Airstash is cheap when you consider what it costs to buy a 64 GB IPad vs. 16 GB. You can get a 16GB iPad an Airstash+ and 1TB of SD cards for less than cost of a 64 GB iPad!

Get yourself a CloudFTP device then you can load all your stuff on any USB drive. I used one on vacation, worked like charm.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

I thought you were onto something there, but it looks like;
a. the program is very old
b. It requires iTunes (and older versions at that).

This is basically what I'm after though. I just need to be able to browse my iPad in windows explorer (or a 3rd party app) and copy files to it over USB, but without itunes.

Am I dreaming?

I think the portable wireless storage like an Airstash, Goflex satellite or Wi-Drive is a better way to go. Fiddling around with an unsecured PC in some dodgy Internet cafe just to transfer media is not ideal. With my solution, you can stream your movies to your iPad or transfer them before playing.

If you were going to use just a USB, then the Wi-Drive comes in 16Gb, 32Gb and 64 Gb sizes. If you like the idea of massive storage, then go the 500Gb Goflex Satellite.

Yeah, fair enough. I was hoping to avoid buying anything, because this is probably the only time I'll ever need to do this (traveling), and I doubt if I would do it more than once. But if a new gadget is the only way to do it, then a new gadget I must purchase!

Unless, of course, your iPad has enough room for the media in question, but I guess not, it would make the thread sort of superfluous.

Just to confirm (because I haven't found confirmation on the airstash site) you can import videos (copy) onto the iPad, not just stream? and is this for just the inbuilt player, just for 3rd party apps, or both?

Not sure about the Airstash, but the Wi-Drive and Goflex Satellite you can move the files to your iPad via the app. Any videos that are iPad compliant should stream OK to the Video app when selected via the Wi-Drive or GoFlex apps. For video not compliant, a third party app will be needed for playback, but I cannot comment on the streaming, because it was not happening with my Wi-Drive and OPlayerHD very well. Moving the video file to the iPad first and "sending" it to OPlayerHD was the way to go.

smokyjoe, you may want to look into the jailbreak app called pwnTunes. Its $6.99 from Cydia.
I'm not a user of it myself, but from what I understand it exposes the iPad as a USB drive allowing it to be connected to any PC without the need for installation of software. From there you can drag / drop files onto the drive and pwnTunes manages the process of putting the media into the correct place and exposing it through the Music, Photos, Video apps etc.

As I say, I don't use it, but it sounds like its the solution you are looking for, so worth investigating further.

I second this, its excellent, i use it on my iPhone however. its a lot easier than using iTunes.

With a combination of pwntunes, photosync and dropbox I haven't used iTunes for a long time!

yes

You can copy to iPad or stream on up to 6 devices at same time!

I used it in middle of Serengeti to stream photos from vehicle to vehicle while we were on safari!!!! worked great and allowed backup of SD cards. Read and write from SD card to and from iPad! Something Apple says you can't do!


All without power or internet connectivity!

Or you can follow up on the guide right here without the use of internet.

http://www.ipadforums.net/ipad-hacking/71951-using-external-storage-devices-ipad.html

Great guide, but if the AirStash+ is a no brainer! No complicated Y splitter and power needed. Can be used in remote locations and without 3G or wifi access. I even used to backup camera in a Safari vehicle by using an Eye-Fi card in camera to send to iPad wirelessly and then backup to blank SD card in AirStash+ while still shooting.... never missed a shot!

addiosamigo, do you use it for videos as well? I've had a play with the trial version and I can't work out if it's possible to use it for videos. It seems like it's geared towards managing music, and using the iOS device as file storage.

Pwntunes? It can handle video but only video in the camera roll, not sure if you could put a movie in there though. for videos use something like av player, it plays pretty much any video file, you can even put .vob files onto the iPad, (this is the file directly from a DVD) in case you haven't the time to convert!