Dad's new ipad collecting dust. His old netbook is still his favorite.

[archerdavid86]

I bought him an ipad without thinking because I thought he would love it.
He never uses it. I think it's because he can't download Korean TV shows into the ipad.
He knows how to download and put TV shows into his netbook, but he doesn't know how to work itunes and converting the videos and all that.
Is there an easy way to hack or modify the ipad OS or app that lets him easily download videos into his ipad? Or even if he downloads it into his desktop computer, and then move it via USB and use the ipad simply like a storage for playing videos?

 

[twerppoet]

Crunchyroll.com offers a fair selection of Korean drama (and lots of anime).

There is an app for the iPad. You can watch with commercials, or pay for commercial free access for about $7 a month.

I can't help with the downloading and porting of shows to the iPad, but there are other members that do this. Hopefully one of them will wander by.

 

[archerdavid86]

i was wondering more specifically if there's a way to move avi or wmv mpg files into ipad and watch it. an EASY way!

 

[archerdavid86]

damn this ipad really sucks.... my dad was really happy to receive it after seeing a lot of his friends use it for youtube and wahtever.. shame

 

[col.bris]

You may be able to use the wire fire hot spot USB adapters take a look at our sub forum iPad connect

 

[twerppoet]

Well, not every device is best for every task. Watching Korean TV is a bit specialized, at least in the U.S.

On the other hand, I just did a search of the App Store for "Korean TV" and got 21 one hits. At least one of those should be of interest to your dad. Unless he has a slow or limited data internet connection, a streaming service is likely to be a much easier solution than any convert and transfer method.

That said, I know at least one person who regularly converts Korean TV episodes for use on the iPad. It sounded a bit complicated to me, but I'll ask for a breakdown, probably tomorrow. If it sounds doable for your dad I'll pass it along.

 

[produc3rboy]

You can use VLC for iPad and iTunes. Not sure if subtitle files like .srt will work with it though.

http://lifehacker.com/5643124/getting-the-most-out-of-vlc-for-ipad


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[twerppoet]

Looks like my Korean TV expert took the day off, and I won't be able to ask again until next week. You can blame the World Cup.

 

[archerdavid86]

what i'm focused on is not korean TV, but generally any type of video files that aren't compatible natively on the ipad. i think i've mislead everyone into thinking i was only talking about korean tv shows.

 

[twerppoet]

In that case you'll want to look at the apps VLC, AVPlayer, and OPlayer. These apps can play most video formats; more than what Apple supports natively.

I use OPlayer, mostly because it was the first good audio/video playback app I found, and I've had no reason to look further; because I don't need it often.

 

[archerdavid86]

how do you actually put the video files into the ipad without using itunes? doesn't itunes only allow m4a files?

 

[twerppoet]

Each of the mentioned apps offers several methods. I don't know which offer which. The most common are DropBox or another cloud service, a computer companion app, or using http file transfer.

When using http file transfer the app will give you an IP address to type into a browser on your computer. Once you do that you'll use a web interface to copy files back and forth between the iPad and computer.

You have to be on the same wi-fi network.

There are probably a couple other methods I'm forgetting or just plain don't know about.


As for iTunes (on the computer), it will accept several of the more common video formats, then convert them to a compatible iPad format before syncing. It does the same for music files.

You can not transfer music or video to the Music or Video apps on the iPad except through iTunes, normally. There are a few computer apps out there the can be used to replace iTunes functionality (to some extent); but it's been so long since I looked at any of them I've forgotten the names; assuming the ones I looked at still exist.

 

[archerdavid86]

hmm? i dont understand fully.
i think you're saying that I have to put the video file on dropbox using my PC, and then download it to my ipad right? but i can do this without going online if i use same network?
is there a way to simply share files over my network?

 

[twerppoet]

hmm? i dont understand fully.
i think you're saying that I have to put the video file on dropbox using my PC, and then download it to my ipad right? but i can do this without going online if i use same network?

To use DropBox you have to have an internet connection. Probably not the best way to do large video files.

The http file transfer method only requires that you be on the same wi-fi network. Basically the iPad app will create a local webpage for uploading/downloading content to itself, then gives you the IP address of that webpage.

You type the address into the browser on your computer, and follow the instructions on the webpage.

 

[archerdavid86]

yes, i think i know what you're talking about but i dont know how to do it.
how do you do the http file transfer method over the network?
i'm already on the same network.