Cyprus-Forum.com

[supporttheunderdog]

Does anyone here have any experience of using iFlash drives or similar?

These are basically thumbdrives with a standard usb at one end and a lightning plug in the other which, with an app, can be plugged into more modern iPads, phones, and expand the memory. Media cam be played as it was in the ipad itself. There are some with the usual fixed memories 8, 16, 32 Gb, etc, up to 256, but others which take SD or Micro SD cards.

I have seen them on Amazon, etc, and am thinking of buying one to upgrade my ipad rather than replace it with something with larger memory...at least 64 gb, as while in many ways excellent bits of kit I am not thst much a fanboy to want to pay the mega euros demanded for them, plus the faff of uploading, as opposed to simple file copying.

Also Does anybody know if anyone does them at sensible prices in Cyprus, by which I mean about the same cost as buying from eg Amazon plus postage....i have seen a small capacity drive in one retailer but I thought the price was OTT.

[erolz66]

I don't use apple products (ok the wife has a really old ipod 2nd gen or something).

The proprietary apple interface on newer ipads is called lightning. Out side of the apple ipad world the USB interface serves this function (as it does on larger apple devices like their laptops). You can get a lightning to USB adaptor that will then allow you to use a whole range of USB interfaced peripheral devices - memory sticks, SD card readers, HDD and SSD based portable storage, keyboards, mice - the list goes on and on. Or you can buy such peripheral devices that comes with lightning interface built in either as the only interface or as and additional one to USB. A device that has a lightning interface (or lightning and USB) built in will pretty much always be more expensive than the same device with just a USB interface. Get an adaptor and then you can just buy the cheaper equivalent USB only based devices - but you will have to carry around two things in addition to your ipad. The adaptor and the peripheral device. Or pay more for one with lightning built in just so you dont have to carry an adaptor around as well.

[Sotos]

Go to Amazon and look at the reviews of people that actually used the device. From a quick look it seems the reviews for such things are not that great. If you do buy then buy from Amazon. Depending on your needs there might be better alternatives, like cloud storage or even apps that let you access and transfer media directly to your computer via WIFI.

[boomerang]

iflash drives work on ipads and iphones...you can get an original, expensive but work with current IOS or you can get a copy, a lot cheaper, work with current IOS but not guaranteed to work with future IOS...

From memory the originals come with inclusive of memory in different configurations and the copies with just a microSD card slot so you can add your own size and use as many as you like..

They are good because not only you can move photos but also contacts and assorted files...
Worth the investment if you are sick of iTunes and cloud for backups...

I picked up a copy in china for US$7....totally worth it...

[supporttheunderdog]

Go to Amazon and look at the reviews of people that actually used the device. From a quick look it seems the reviews for such things are not that great. If you do buy then buy from Amazon. Depending on your needs there might be better alternatives, like cloud storage or even apps that let you access and transfer media directly to your computer via WIFI.

Hi
Thanks for your comments. Well thought out as always.

The issue that has emerged is that I am doing an increasing amount of travel, and I want it for sitting on a plane (or in a cab) where the cloud is not accessible and there is no wifi. Sometimes the cab ride can be three hours....i can easily get through three moovies or decent length music videoes each way. I know i likely have two return trips in Jan Across the Atlantic and then some...

I am aware there are whole range of prods from a number of makers, some evidently Apple certified, some seemingly not, and at a range prices. I am reading the Amazon reviews and some are good and some are bad. Having checked out some of the good reviews some reviewers appears to have used the same review for several items and there was nothing objective.. Not sure some of the good reviews were genuine..I am also looking a press reviews.

As to other solutions I already use cloud storage and am even using my laptop as a personal cloud server, using Tonido, but upload rates are pathetic, and the Cyta upgrade we are due will not change that, only download capacity. And in sny event it does not help. ....

.....I must admit I am even tempted to buy a new tablet that will take micro SD cards, possibly a windows 10 device....

[supporttheunderdog]

iflash drives work on ipads and iphones...you can get an original, expensive but work with current IOS or you can get a copy, a lot cheaper, work with current IOS but not guaranteed to work with future IOS...

From memory the originals come with inclusive of memory in different configurations and the copies with just a microSD card slot so you can add your own size and use as many as you like..

They are good because not only you can move photos but also contacts and assorted files...
Worth the investment if you are sick of iTunes and cloud for backups...

I picked up a copy in china for US$7....totally worth it...

Hi Boomers. Thanks.

One of my Boys might be going to China but if so not in time to get one to me before i get flying.

I understand There is whole range, including those with fixed memory and those with sd/micro Sd card readers and some manufacturers do both, even apple certified. I have read in some reviews about problems after ios upgrades.

From your copy can you stream music and video, using I think the istick app? That is what I am after.

.

[supporttheunderdog]

I don't use apple products (ok the wife has a really old ipod 2nd gen or something).

The proprietary apple interface on newer ipads is called lightning. Out side of the apple ipad world the USB interface serves this function (as it does on larger apple devices like their laptops). You can get a lightning to USB adaptor that will then allow you to use a whole range of USB interfaced peripheral devices - memory sticks, SD card readers, HDD and SSD based portable storage, keyboards, mice - the list goes on and on. Or you can buy such peripheral devices that comes with lightning interface built in either as the only interface or as and additional one to USB. A device that has a lightning interface (or lightning and USB) built in will pretty much always be more expensive than the same device with just a USB interface. Get an adaptor and then you can just buy the cheaper equivalent USB only based devices - but you will have to carry around two things in addition to your ipad. The adaptor and the peripheral device. Or pay more for one with lightning built in just so you dont have to carry an adaptor around as well.

Hi Erolz,

Yes and apple might be moving over to USB C in the near future, a reversible version of the micro USB.

I am aware of converters that allow a micro usb to act as a lightning cable, and there is an apple device for camera connectivity to allow some very limited means of putting photos on card, but not to allow full blown file usage. Android has such a facility, USB "On The Go" or OTG, which is supported by some but not all Android devices, others of course have card readers built in, BUT, The iPad and iOS does not support OTG, at least not without "jail breaking" and I am not aware of a simple usb to lightning converter that will allow standard usb devices to directly talk to an iPad. I have been looking. Some have now found a way but only by making an "intelligent" device which, with an App, the iPad will recognise.

Apple seem to have bowed to the inevitability of people using such devices by certifying some, and allowing the apps in the store.

[erolz66]

Maybe a wifi based portable storage solution would meet your needs ? Something like one of these

http://www.cnet.com/news/wireless-mobil ... -of-these/

[Sotos]

Best solution is obviously another tablet... nothing sticking out and you know it will always work reliably. You can sell your iPad and buy another tablet, or just buy an additional relatively cheap & relatively good (around €200 for a 10", cheaper if you go smaller), Android or Windows tablet just for this purpose. The 16:9 aspect ratio of most Android tablets will be better for movies anyway. Or you can just try a cheap iFlash device from Amazon, if it doesn't work you can always return it. I wouldn't buy the expensive one because the next version of iPads will probably have USB3 so you will not be able to use it with them (maybe there will be an adapter, but then there will be too many things hanging from the iPad).

[Sotos]

For a low cost secondary tablet to watch movies check this out:
http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B01276MOH6

€165 including express shipping to Cyprus. Not great performance, the cameras suck, but the screen seems decent and it has front facing speakers which are pretty good.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/10/02 ... ock_combo/

... or follow the black Friday deals at Amazon and you might find even better deals.