External hard drive to use with an iPad for travelling - specifically plane travel

ambidextrous on 21/05/2015 - 21:36

Hi All

I am travelling soon and I would like to take some movies with me to use on my ipad. Problem with this is that I have a 16gb Ipad3 and it can only fit 4-5 tv episodes on it at best with my study documents.

i have been researching and found a few products that can work. One that i found which is recommended is the seagate wireless plus http://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/iphone/best-ways-get-more-…

However, as it creates its own wireless network from which i can stream movies from it to the ipad, i thought that this might cause problems as WIFI isnt allowed on planes (unless i'm wrong?)

another product is the leef ibridge. however i have read that it doesn't support the file format that apple purchased movies uses, and it uses a 2.0 USB not a 3.0 USB. (not sure this matters though)

if anyone has any information or advice on what i can use, this would be greatly appreciated

Computing

Comments

  • scrimshaw on 21/05/2015 - 21:51
    +2

    The Seagate Wireless Plus is pretty good, my workplace had one. Discussions here. It's stutter free. The catch is the price… it ain't cheap @ $238 for 1TB

    For $230 dollars, you could already buy a tablet or an ultrabook with expandable storage, so I don't see it as a very good investment.

    The other alternative is the Ravpower File hub which has very good ratings on Amazon, but it's not sold to Australia and will need to be imported. It's basically a NAS, with card readers, USB ports and such, and is self powered using a 3000 mah lithium battery which coincidentally also ends up being a power bank.

    • ambidextrous on 21/05/2015 - 22:00

      thank you for replying!

      is using the seagate on a plane with the Ipad an issue? or is there an option to plug it in to the Ipad with a cord and turn off the wifi?

      • scrimshaw on 21/05/2015 - 22:00
        +1

        You ninja'ed me, so here is the Ravpower I was talking about.

        Ships to AU for an additional 7 USD (total cost $47 USD)
        http://www.amazon.com/RAVPower%C2%AE-FileHub-Wireless-3000mA…

        Not sure about the Wifi and the rules… what airways you flying with? For Qantas check
        http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/inflight-communicat…

        • ambidextrous on 21/05/2015 - 22:05

          thanks for the link

          i'm flying Jetstar and Korean air

        • scrimshaw on 21/05/2015 - 22:07

          @ambidextrous:

          According to Qantas anyway… you need to switch on AirPlane mode on your devices.

          However Wifi seems to be exempt from the no-comms rule since Qantas themselves issue iPads that have Wifi enabled (with Airplane mode on) to connect to their inflight Q Streaming entertainment systems.

          Not sure about transmitting your own Wifi network, this you should check with the airways.

        • johnn on 24/05/2015 - 17:45

          The Verbatim MediaShare Wireless is reportedly the same as the RAVPower, with a slightly different shell, and uses the same software. Much easier to find in Aus at ~$50

  • 2Poor4Ozb on 21/05/2015 - 22:31

    There is aa. Wireless hdd cover you can buy for internal hdd

  • GordonR on 21/05/2015 - 22:55
    +2

    You can get SD-card readers for iPads and put the videos on an SD-card.

    Details http://benguilbaud.com/2013/01/12/ipad-tip-how-to-store-vide…

    Sounds not too hard, but I haven't tried it.

    • BadHorse on 24/05/2015 - 11:10

      Wow I would be interested to hear from people if it works, That would be great.

      Its a shame that the SD card reader for lightning costs the same as the old 30-pin camera connector kit but doesn't come with the USB camera adaptor :(

  • spersephone on 22/05/2015 - 12:31
    +1

    The Seagate Wireless Plus is pretty good, but mine often loses its connection. You can use it with a plug in a laptop, bypassing the wifi network, which I've resorted to when the network wasn't behaving. Generally, it works well, but is not as good as I had expected it to be.

    • ambidextrous on 22/05/2015 - 12:33

      nice! do you think i would be able to plug it into an Ipad with a USB adapter?

      • spersephone on 22/05/2015 - 12:34
        +1

        I'm fairly certain a USB adaptor wouldn't cope. I've got one and it doesn't, however there might be some out there that can. In my experience though, no.

  • [Deactivated] on 24/05/2015 - 17:46

    Im pretty sure that iPads don't allow you to plug in external hard drives in any form.

  • Brouw3r on 25/05/2015 - 11:37

    You could try reducing the size of the video files so you can fit more on.

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