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[InflatableMouse]

I'll be getting a new ipad soon™ and I'm trying to find cool things I can do with it.

I found this but some things worry me. It speaks of converting videos to m4v and I don't want that.

Basically the m4v is container that holds the same format videostream as an mkv, but my mkv's (or most of them anyways) have DTS or DTS-MA audio streams which m4v does not support.

What options do I have of streaming mkv's to a new ipad?

What is your favorite stuff you do with your ipad or what are your favorite apps?

Are my options better with an Android tablet?

[)p(]

I'll be getting a new ipad soon™ and I'm trying to find cool things I can do with it.

I found this but some things worry me. It speaks of converting videos to m4v and I don't want that.

Basically the m4v is container that holds the same format videostream as an mkv, but my mkv's (or most of them anyways) have DTS or DTS-MA audio streams which m4v does not support.

What options do I have of streaming mkv's to a new ipad?

What is your favorite stuff you do with your ipad or what are your favorite apps?

Are my options better with an Android tablet?

If you dont want to convert them then you can either use the airvideo app that will convert them on the fly. Or use splashtop remote to connect to your pc that runs jrmc in theaterview. Both options work very well for me.

I use the ipad for a lot of things. Flipboard for reading all kinds of newsfeeds. Pocket for archived articles. tweetbot for twitter. Photosmith for rating photos and syncing with lightroom. Spotify/groove2/shuffler.fm to play music on the stereo with airplay. jremote/ipeng the same with the squeezebox. I even started to use imovie a lot for our home videos. Its very basic but its so convenient to do in lost hours on the couch. And many more...we basically stopped using a pc/laptop for 90% of the time and things we do on a computer since we got ipads.

[pcstockton]

you wont have any problems finding things to do with your iPad.  And there is something for everyone.

I have only played with a few of the Android and I would already own one if they were better.  But to each their own.

-Patrick

[rjm]

These are my favorites:

FeedlerPro - RSS feeds
Pocket - queue pages for offline reading
Tapatalk HD - communicate on forums like JRiver Interact
Xmarks - sync bookmarks with desktop
LastPass - sync passwords with desktop
Mercury - better browser than default Safari
Dropbox - sync files with desktop
Notability - word processor
Mint - personal finances
Ancestry - family tree
GoodReader - pdf books
iBooks - ePub books
IMDb - nice app for accessing IMDb
Air Video - stream all video types to iPad
AVPlayerHD - play all video types stored on iPad
YouTube - nice app for accessing YouTube
iCatcher - podcasts
TuneIn Radio - radio
SoundHound - amazing app that detects song name from few seconds of listening
Remote - remote control for iTunes/Apple TV
JRemote - JRiver remote
My River - JRiver remote
LogMeIn - remote control desktop
TeamViewer - remote control desktop (alternative to LogMeIn - both are good)
CityMaps2Go - maps for offline use
AppZapp HD - useful for finding new apps and monitoring app sale prices
Fing - network status utility
AirPort Utility - manage Airport devices

[pcstockton]

I like to keep it clean.  I dont have a ton of apps.  I download and buy a ton, but if I dont use an app for a few months I typically delete.

Also, I use this for a work "computer" in lieu of a Laptop.

So in addition to the stock apps like Mail, Safari, Maps etc...  I regularly use:
- JRemote
- iBooks (I never thought I would like this.  It is SIC!  Syncs with iPhone etc...)
- Good Reader (best PDF, text file, etc viewer, manager)
- AutoCAD WS
- Splashtop
- Penultimate
- VLC (so much better than the stock Video app)
- XFinity TV (remote and set-up recordings for Comcast Cablebox)
- ESPN Score CenterXL
- Mint.com
- Facebook
- APODViewerHD (astronomy picture of the day)

Cheers,
Patrick

[InflatableMouse]

Thanks guys! I'll be looking into those apps.

How is Splashtop working for you? I had a glance at it some time back. A dude showed his PC desktop on his Transformer and played a full HD video which seemed to come through fine including sound and over 3G. I wanted to be impressed but I couldn't help myself and think it was too good to be true.

[)p(]

Thanks guys! I'll be looking into those apps.

How is Splashtop working for you? I had a glance at it some time back. A dude showed his PC desktop on his Transformer and played a full HD video which seemed to come through fine including sound and over 3G. I wanted to be impressed but I couldn't help myself and think it was too good to be true.

I doubt with 3g but with a fast server and a good wifi connection it works very well. This is a video  made a while back:

http://youtu.be/xf1cQJ0KAHo

[Magic_Randy]

When not in use I use my iPad as a Picture Frame.

I have an Apple iPad Dock which is plugged into the charger. I put the iPad in the dock and put it into Picture Frame mode.

[rjm]

Thanks for the tip on Slashtop. I bought it today and it seems to work very well.

[InflatableMouse]

Well I got my shiny new ipad a couple of days back and other than that iTunes is the worst program in the world, the iPad itself is great. The tips above have really helped me on my way. Splashtop 2 works great, Air Video is awesome and of course the MC remote apps work great too - especially JRemote.

I know its a bit offtopic for this forum, but what apps do you folks use for ebooks (epub?). I have a pile of drm-free books in Calibre, but I can't find a suitable program to organise them on the iPad. Basically it needs to be able to handle thousands of books, it needs to have a search feature on title/author and offer a good reading experience (ie not screw up the layout like uBook). Preferably it should handle pdf as well but its not required.

uBook offers all that except the last point - its an aweful reader but it does the rest decently well. Kindle app seems good too but I can't figure out how to get my own books in there (I am *not* emailing them ) and uploading with iTunes doesn't work (although it does accept files :s).

Any tips? Appreciate it!

Thx.

[Lasse_Lus]

rjm, you have really become a apple fanboy     

[)p(]

x

[InflatableMouse]

ow hehe I just noticed iTunes can upload my books to iBooks 

Never realized it would allow books from other sources than its own bookstore.

[rjm]

I use Calibre to maintain a list of epubs I want on my iPad. I also use Calibre to create an ePub Catalog of this list of books.

Calibre sends these ePubs to iTunes.

iTunes syncs these ePubs to my IPad.

On my iPad I sort the order of the books I want to read with iBooks. And I can read descriptions of each book by opening the Catalog.

Very happy with this solution.

I have a different workflow for syncing PDFs to my IPad with JRiver if you are interested.

[rjm]

A simpler quick and dirty way to get an ePub onto the iPad is to start the Calibre web server.

You can then browse your Calibre library with an iPad browser and download individual books directly into iBooks.

[rjm]

rjm, you have really become a apple fanboy     

I will never buy a Mac computer. I love my Windows system and apps. But I also love my iPad. It's an amazing device. And now that I've figured out how to sync almost everything with my Windows world I have the best of everything.

We just need AirPlay video support in MC. Then the JRiver team can take a nice long well deserved vacation.

[rjm]

Here is another hot iPad app tip.

Microsoft OneNote is the best kept secret in the office suite. A wonderful tool for making and organizing notes.

OneNote is also available for the iPad. The iTunes store reviews were poor so I initially ignored it. But I decided to take an independent look and I absolutely love it!

Data is stored on Microsoft's SkyDrive and magically syncs with my desktop and laptop OneNote apps. Add or change a note on any device and all devices instantly see the change.

The iPad version does not have all the audio/video/image bells and whistles of the desktop version. But for basic note taking it is absolutely perfect. And free for 500 or less notes. Run don't walk.

[InflatableMouse]

Thank rjm.

Seems that Calibre has a lot of features I never used, I'll play around some.

For some reason I never liked OneNote other than for its screenshot clipboard feature; I don't think its very intuitive, but you did remind of Skydrive: another 25GB free online storage I forgot about and never used but will come in handy with the iPad .

The list so far:
Name - Description
Air Video - Stream videos
JRemote - Remote control MC
Mail - default e-mail program
Mercury - Web browser
Skype - video chat app
Comic Zeal - Comic Book Reader
GoodReader - PDF/Doc reader
iBooks - epub book reader
Marvel - Marvel Comic App
21Pro Blackjack- Game
Collection - Pinball games
Tweakers.net - Tweakers.net news app
IMDB - Movie app + trailers
Engadget - Engadget news app
TuneIn Radio - Radio app
SoundHound - detect songs
Weather+ - Weather app
AccuWeather  - Weather app
Buienradar  - Weather app
AppZapp HD - App store app
Notability - Versatile Notes app
Tapatalk HD - Forum app
Splashtop - remote desktop control
XBMC Commander - Remote control xmbc
MyRiver - Remote control MC
FeeddlerPro - RSS feeds
DeStemming 1V - 1vandaag stemmer
Google Earth - Google Earth
AVPlayerHD - Video Player
Ziggo TV - Online TV
Trailers Lite - Movie Trailers
Pathe Mobiel - Movie Theater app
VLC Streamer - Video player
YouTube - YouTube app
LastPass - Password app
Xmarks - Bookmark sync
duckduckgo - Search Engine
DOF Master - DOF calculator
DropBox - cloud storage
Fing - Network app
PhotoCalc - DOF calculator
Printer Pro - iPad Printing to Desktop Printer
Speed Test - internet speed test
Subnet Calc - Subnet calculator
Subnet IT - Subnet calculator
Ziggo Verbruik - Data Usage
Skydrive - Microsoft Online Storage

[InflatableMouse]

After giving up a Mac for a Windows PC I quit reading RSS feeds simply because there was no Windows version of Times. Times was godly, or at least as close as it gets. After that I kind of forgot about RSS feeds and eventually I forgot about Times and how great it was.

On my iPad I though I'd had another dip into RSS Readers, and I started off with Feeddler. Nice program, but it reminded me of why I quit RSS feeds and Readers. I remembered the good times I had on the Mac and then it dawned on me: Times. The iPad equivalent is called (drumfil) Pulp.

I love Pulp. It's my favorite new iPad program. If you're serious about RSS feeds, you need Pulp.

[Lasse_Lus]

If you're serious about RSS feeds, you need Pulp.

if you really serious about RSS feeds, you use feedreader.com (though not for apple though), it's actually a lot like MC with smartlists and so on,they also quite recently added thier new web Version..

[InflatableMouse]

... though not for apple though ...

lol ... you realize you're in an ipad thread right 

[Lasse_Lus]

you realize you're in an ipad thread right  

sorry mouse   ..i thougt you said rss and serious, thats why i added my comment about feedreader, but i now know that the thread is really serious..i tried to joke with rjm, but i dont think he got that
over and out  

[rjm]

sorry mouse  ..i thougt you said rss and serious, thats why i added my comment about feedreader, but i now know that the thread is really serious..i tried to joke with rjm, but i dont think he got that
over and out 

I did laugh at your comment but you wouldn't know it from my reply (I've got to lighten up). I never thought I'd like apple anything. And here I am promoting the iPad and Apple TV.

[InflatableMouse]

Well you did make me laugh with your comments and you should mine be read with a wink.

In fact, its best not to take anything I say too seriously .