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Entertaining the kids DVD, iPad, Wifi Hard Drive?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Accessories and Modifications' started by jerrydelrey, Mar 13, 2012.

  1. jerrydelrey

    jerrydelrey Member

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    Inboard entertainment system.

    Okay this past week I went full circle. My original plan was iPad. I started converting my DVD's. It's gonna take long, I rode my friends car with headrest DVD players it was pretty good. But I researched and because of the ACTIVE HEAD RESTRAINT, Its not wise to replace the head rest.

    So now I'm back to the iPad. I'm gonna get one of the seat mounts. Then I started to think my 16G iPad2 is not big enough for alot of movies. How can I store this media.

    After researching more I found this:
    The Best Wi-Fi Hard Drives For iPhone And iPad

    And

    http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/gadgetlab/2011/05/goflex.jpeg

    [​IMG]

    I'm pretty much set with a Hard drive.

    My questions are :

    1. have you guys used this in your car? How did the hard drive stand up to road bump? I'm wondering if it's gonna break. If so I'll get one of the flash drive readers.

    2. How do you like the goflex software I read that it sucks.

    3. Any recommendations on programs to rip the DVD's to MP3? I'm using Handbrake.

    4. Any more recommendation on portable wifi streaming hard drives? There is a toshiba G-connect

    Hitachi Wireless Hard Drive Streams Media Direct to Phones, Tablets | Gadget Lab | Wired.com

    5. Any more alternatives will be great.
     
    #1 jerrydelrey, Mar 13, 2012
  2. TheAaron

    TheAaron Junior Member

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    Umm...I'll give you the input I can

    1. Bumps are good. Most should be flash hard drives so bumps shouldn't screw things up but I went with the Kingston since mine is more for holding music and it's smaller.

    2. No opinion

    3. Handbrake is one of the best. Usually can rip most Disneys. Almost all ripping programs now can format it too so it looks good on your iPad screen also while reducing the amount of MB's it takes

    4. I like the Kingston because it's small and has what I need. I can access my iPhone wifi hotspot from the iPad as well since I'm using it for music and not for video. For your usage I would stick with the seagate. That was my 2nd choice

    5. I think you've got the best options. You can get DVD playes installed into the back of the seat of the car instead of headrests. That an option but much costlier and it's someone taking a knife to your seat...:/
     
    #2 TheAaron, Mar 14, 2012
    1 person likes this.
  3. jerrydelrey

    jerrydelrey Member

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    Thanks for your reply.

    I went to best buy and they did not have the hamachi or WD wifi streaming Hard drives.

    I found a WD multi media sever Hard drive for $99. I think, bc now cant find it on line. That plus a monitor can work too.

    I still have not found any data on the reliability of Hard drive MM severs in cars.
     
    #3 jerrydelrey, Mar 14, 2012
  4. Rebound

    Rebound Senior Member

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    I don't know how this drive streams to iPad, but of you go the iTunes route to copy the movies, it's a three-step process:

    1) Use Handbrake to copy and convert the movie. Make sure that the Chapter Marker checkbox is checked. To work with copy-protected discs, the VLC media player must also be installed on your computer.

    2) Use Meta-X to embed meta data into your movies. This will give the movies a professional appearance on the iPad, with chapter names, cover art, year, ratings, etc. Meta-X looks up this data from an online database.

    3) Import the movie into iTunes and sync it with the iPad. IMO, a 64 GB iPad will store a lot of movies without the hassle of an external drive. I'd go that route if you haven't purchased yet. Plus you install nothing in the car, the battery lasts 10 hours, you can bring it into the hotel, etc.

    I've taken my kids on long trips to Disneyland (400 miles each way). They only watch a few movies each way. If you have 30 movies on a 64 GB iPad, it's more than enough.

    For movie playback, the Gen I iPad is perfectly fine. Apps and other things have no problems with it.
     
    #4 Rebound, Mar 14, 2012
  5. jerrydelrey

    jerrydelrey Member

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    Thanks for the info. I'll look in to the Meta-X program.

    Unfortunatly, I have a 16G iPad, I think it won't be enough.
     
    #5 jerrydelrey, Mar 14, 2012
  6. jerrydelrey

    jerrydelrey Member

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    I was searching some more this morning and found CloudFTP. It's a wifi device that, you can attach any USB storage to it, including protable hard drives. It can power the hard drives too. You can any format supported by the iPad.

    CloudFTP. Wirelessly share ANY USB storage with iPad, iPhone By Daniel Chin - YouTube

    I'm going to look into this now.

    It's like the WD but your not limited to the built in HD. And i have alot of portable hard drives laying around.
     
    #6 jerrydelrey, Mar 14, 2012
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