For cars with old cassette recorders, there is a more affordable option - a cassette adapter. The cord from it is inserted into the headphone output iPad, and the cassette into the radio compartment. Press play on it and listen to what is playing from the iPad. But in our opinion the FM transmitter is better.

iPad in the car | IPad Console Car Holder

Car Holder iPad Console is a specialized model for a specific tablet. It is designed specifically for iPad the first generation, as it is made in the format of a plastic cover-cover with fasteners for the windshield. With a strong desire iPad 2 it will also hold, but not too securely (the sizes of the tablets are not identical), and, moreover, access to the buttons will be partially blocked (the iPad has them on the ends, while the iPad 2 slightly behind).

The design of the iPad Console is quite simple - a flexible wire (corrugated) leg is fixed with slots on the back, and is attached to the windshield of the car with a suction cup end. The leg itself bends and can even be tied in a knot if required. The bending force is quite powerful, it will not bend by itself. But, unlike rigid legs, this option implies the presence of a fulcrum, because the tablet weighs an impressive (compared to a cell phone) 670 grams, it will be rash to hope that it will not dangle on bumps.

The medium-sized suction cup holds the tablet well even without a fulcrum, but we would not recommend risking an expensive tablet like that. If there is a fulcrum, the fastening is very reliable, the separation from the glass does not occur even if the car hits a deep hole all the way (which, unfortunately, is typical for Russian roads even in megacities, not to mention suburban highways).

The flexibility of the wire leg gives you a large number of degrees of freedom, and the swivel joint at the lid articulation allows the tablet to be oriented as desired. True, the same hinge joint leads to the fact that the tablet dangles a little on the leg, which can cause discomfort when driving on the grader.

The iPad Console comes with a double-sided tape that lets you attach your tablet to your dashboard or seat tunnel instead of your windshield. This is very useful because the leg is relatively short, and if your car has a wide dashboard, it can be inconvenient to attach the tablet to the windshield. Just for example, in the Mercedes G500 the panel is short and is ideal for mounting a mount with iPad to the glass, and in the Chevrolet Trailblazer, we had to use Velcro to fit the plate onto the dashboard. In some cars, it may be more convenient to fix the tablet not on the dashboard, but on the tunnel, and here you cannot do without Velcro.

Reliable retention of the tablet in the mount is ensured by its tight grip on all edges. This is also a disadvantage - to extract iPad from the Console is not difficult, but requires some dexterity. In general, for owners of the first generation iPad, this is a rather convenient and reliable mount, the main drawback of which is its non-versatility. When upgrading your tablet, you will have to buy a different mount.

At the time of publication of the article, iPad Console cost in the store "Cult of accessories" 1790 rubles, but by the time you read this, the price may have changed. We recommend checking.

iPad in the car | IPad Car Holder

Car Holder iPad Car Holder could be safely called Tablet Car Holder. As we wrote above, it will fit absolutely any tablet, even for the Samsung Galaxy Tab, even for the Acer Iconia Tab A500.

The design of this holder is noticeably more complicated than that of the iPad Console - the leg has several axes of rotation, screw fasteners of the hinge joints, made of hard plastic.

The suction cup on the iPad Car Holder is more massive, with a larger diameter, and holds the tablet very firmly even when it is in weight.

Sliding legs allow you to clamp iPad in both portrait and horizontal arrangement. The rubberized surface of the hooks will securely hold the tablet and prevent the mount from scratching the case. The hooks can be extended, which gives the feeling that the holder was designed not so much with an iPad in mind, but to hold an entire netbook or tablet PC, with their thick edges.

Having fixed the holder on the windshield once, it is quite convenient to insert the iPad into it, and even more convenient than into the special iPad Console. Only one moment raised questions from us - one of the pivot joints rotates freely, and is not equipped with clamps. This was done to make it easier to deploy iPad at any time, but more often you want to firmly fix the device. But, we are sure that a man with hands will find a way to overcome this drawback.

In the end, we preferred to use the iPad Car Holder, since we plan to continue using it to check how tablets of other brands are adapted for the car.

At the time of publication of the article, the iPad Car Holder was in the store "Cult of accessories" 1890 rubles, but by the time you read this, the price may have changed. We recommend checking.

iPad in the car | If the mount does not fit

It is quite possible that the mount for iPad will not fit on the windshield. There can be many reasons - important controls on the dashboard, where you can fix the iPad, the dashboard is too wide, the presence of a built-in computer with a screen (like on the new Volvo S60, for example). What to do in this case?

Everyone gets out of the situation as best he can. Someone closes iPad less necessary controls, someone hangs it on the air ducts, pulling a string through them and hanging the tablet by the case. Some users simply put the tablet in a convenient place, leaning against the bottom of the torpedo. Sometimes they even make a belt mount under the sun visor or securely screw a cover to it.

Finally, you can "file" and modify the finished mount to suit you. We even know the person who made the mount out of an old cell phone holder, a Chinese cover case, and self-tapping screws.

In any case, it is important that the device is held securely, does not fly away with sudden braking or on a bump into the cabin or under your feet. It is also advisable not to place the tablet too low. The logic here is simple - if you take your eyes too far from the road while driving, an accident may occur. And since the tablet will act as a navigator, and sometimes you want to pry at the screen, it’s better to take this into account.

And one moment. Some drivers have a habit of putting iPad on the steering wheel and even read from it in traffic jams. We think this is a very dangerous practice anyway, and especially on airbag cars. I don’t even want to imagine what would happen if the iPad flew towards the driver's face under the impact of SRS. The special effects of the bloody horror "Destination" will seem like a kindergarten, as it seems to us.

Now is the time to talk about the best navigation software for iPad, both free and quite expensive. Details on the next page.

iPad in the car | The best navigation software for iPad

For Russians, practically the only (except for Google and Yandex maps and the OffMaps application) navigation application for iPad is Navitel. This refers to the Russians living not only in Moscow or St. Petersburg. It is Navitel that has the most detailed coverage of the country, there are maps even for Khabarovsk, which other applications usually show in the form of a name and a route passing by. If you are a resident of one of the two capitals, then the choice is much wider and more interesting - for example, Sygic Aura with its accelerated three-dimensional interface is very impressive with smoothness and models of attractions, and even works "in the background" - you can listen to music or read mail, and Sygic will guide you along the route by voice. Navigon also knows how to do this, and what is especially cool, you can even turn off the screen and navigate by voice.

All programs have their own advantages and disadvantages, and it is really difficult to choose among them. The problem is compounded by the fact that all applications except Navitel cost money. Navitel is also not free, but you will have 30 days to experiment to decide whether to buy or uninstall the package, and the rest of the applications must be purchased immediately. For one possibility of "trial use" I can say a big thank you to the Navitel developers.

We have carried out quite a long practical testing of all existing (and of interest in Russia) navigation applications. Now a detailed review and comparison of these programs is being prepared, but for now we will tell you in a few words.

We have tested:

1. Navitel Commonwealth
2. Sygic Aura Drive Russia
3. Navigon MobileNavigator Russia
4. CityGuide
5. OffMaps
6. MapsWithMe
7. Microsoft Bing
8. Yandex Maps
9. Google Maps

Laconic impressions are as follows:

Navitel for iPad

And now a little about other scenarios, because it is not a single force that navigation iPad in the car.

iPad in the car | Watching a movie on the road

The driver should definitely not be distracted by the cinema on the road, but passengers can pass the time with pleasure if they pour on iPad films. This is especially convenient with small children on long trips. And no DVD player, car TV, or built-in PlayStation is needed.

One of the common myths says: "Only movies in a specially optimized format can be played on the iPad." So it was when the first appeared iPad... At that time, it was necessary to upload films to iTunes, synchronize the tablet via a USB cable, and the conversion was a dreary process that required special programs and skills to work with them.

Today everything is easier. There are two convenient options (and many others, of course).

The first is to use the program AVPlayerHD or its analogue (Oplayer, Buzz Player, etc.). The program is paid ($ 2.99), but worth the money to every cent. It plays almost any common codecs and containers without problems, and even videos from digital SLRs, which are easily choked with many Android tablets.

It's easy to copy movies to AVPlayerHD - there are three ways, two of which are via Wi-Fi. By pressing the "Wi-Fi Transfer" button in the main menu of AVPlayerHD, you switch the tablet to the mode of receiving content. You can open the iPad's IP address in a browser or FTP client. What exactly needs to be written will be indicated right on the screen.

The easiest way is via FTP. Open the "Explorer" window (Windows + E), type ftp://10.0.0.35:2121 at the top (your address will be different, as in the screenshot), indicate that the login is anonymous. After that, you can simply drag the movie files into the window that opens, just like when copying from a disk to a USB flash drive. For simplicity, you can make a shortcut on your desktop.

Using a browser is also easy. Having opened the specified address, you will receive a window with a button and a list of files already downloaded to the tablet. Uploading is done in much the same way as you attach photos to e-mail in some Mail.ru

And of course, you can copy movies through iTunes by choosing a program from the list. Not the most convenient way and rather archaic, but quite fast. Convenient if you want to fill your tablet with big movies to the eyeballs.

The second option is the program Air Video... Its main purpose is to play movies directly from your computer or NAS to iPad over the air, converting the format in real time. You can even watch movies saved from Blu-ray on iPad, although a powerful computer is required. And Air Video can also convert movies to a format supported by iTunes and the basic iPad viewer in the background, without asking unnecessary complicated questions. You can also choose the quality - you want it to be a movie with the same resolution as for the iPhone 2G screen, or 720p for iPad and Apple TV. In general, this program will be useful not only for tablet owners, but also for those who use iPod Touch and iPhone. After conversion, Air Video can automatically add movies to your iTunes library, and when synchronized (if everything is configured as required), they will be in the tablet.

A side effect of conversion is that movies are significantly reduced in volume, but they do not lose much quality if you choose a high bitrate. Accordingly, you can take with you a lot more films and cartoons to entertain the children on the way.

To use AirVideo, you need to download the server side and install it on your Windows or MacOS computer. In the settings, you need to specify where the movies are (there can be many folders, subfolders are also supported). You can also change some other settings, for example, in terms of the preferred language and subtitles. The server side is completely free.

Then you need to download the paid ($ 2.99) client part AirVideo for iPad from the App Store on your tablet. Specify the server from which the playback is taking place (there may be several of them), if desired, change the conversion settings. After connecting the client part to the server via Wi-Fi, you will see a list of directories with your films. You can go over them by clicking Convert, and the computer where the AirVideo server is located will plunge into the heavy work of converting. In parallel, no one bothers (if the PC is really powerful, for example, on Core i7 Sandy Bridge processors) to watch streaming. By the way, connecting several iPad to one server is also supported, but of course all this requires processor power.

Finally, AirVideo and AVplayerHD can be combined. The first one is used to reduce the volume of films and convert them into a format that iPad hardware accelerates, and the second for storage and playback.

iPad in the car | Listening to music - about the intricacies of management

iPad in the car | Conclusion

The Apple iPad is undoubtedly a great car accessory. You can safely use it as the main GPS navigator for a metropolis and civilized travel (on the roads of Russia, CIS countries, Europe, etc.) thanks to mapping applications such as Navitel, Sygic, CityGuide or Navigon. They still require improvement, but it is clearly noticeable that from update to update they become more stable and convenient. What exactly to choose depends on your taste, and we will soon tell you more about these programs.

Undoubtedly valuable for a motorist in a metropolis is the ability to obtain information about traffic jams via the Internet, and full-fledged work with Yandex and Google maps, including laying routes in these systems, advanced search for the right places, etc. Multi-touch control is extremely convenient and intuitive. This is a great help for those who need to find something along the way - from a children's clothing store to a car service to a cinema.

Advanced multimedia capabilities - surfing the Internet in traffic jams and e-mail in the cockpit, playing music and movies, IP-radio, IP-TV can undoubtedly come in handy. Controlling playback on a 10-inch screen with multi-touch is very convenient, simple navigators after the iPad begin to depress with their limitations. iPad in the car becomes a real multimedia center.

There are also disadvantages - not every car dashboard will be organically combined with a "navigator" of this size. As a Bluetooth handsfree iPad does not know how to work, unlike a number of conventional navigators. The choice of mapping software is not easy - there are too many options, and only a small part of serious programs are free (and trial is available only from Navitel). We also hope that Google will implement for iPad an analogue of its navigation for Android, with a much wider range of functions. It's a shame to lose a good navigation program just because of the confrontation between Android and iOS.

iPad in the car | Photo gallery

Photos of iPad Console and iPad Car Holder car mounts.