I've been asked to put some video files onto an iPad (an iPad Mini, I think, 14GB). So what software should I use, and if possible please suggest something other than iTunes, as I'm no fan of that software. I'm using Windows 7. I only need to transfer across some video files (Mrs Brown's Boys), so I'm not bothered about anything fancy on the Windows side of the program - I don't care about music meta-data, or album covers, or anything at all except for transferring the video files to the iPad so that a complete iPad novice (i.e the one person on the planet who knows less about the iPad than I do) can view the videos. Also, the files are currently in .avi format, but I think I read that the iPad needs them in .mp4 format. If so, what's a good program (Handbrake, Format Factory, etc?) to convert them, and what settings should I use? Thanks for any answers (especially if the answer involves a no-bloatware file transfer function between the PC and the iPad!)
Transferring any file on a non-jailbroken ipad without itunes is pretty much impossible if your going from PC to Ipad. Itunes is not that bad when it comes to transferring files. Basically you download whatever media app they are going to use to view the mp4 on, and in Itunes you drag and drop the video file to that app's folder. Its very simple. Now if you just have to avoid ITunes, you could upload the mp4 to a cloud based fileshare website (like Mega or rapidshare) and then using the iCab web browser app on the Ipad, download the MP4 to the ipad from the website and then use the media program to open it.
You can download VLC from the app store. It allows you to transfer files to it over wifi using an html client. It can also play .avi files, so it's probably exactly what you're looking for. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vlc-for-ios/id650377962
A friend suggested iFunbox, and it's great, and very easy to use, with none of that syncing rubbish, and it's done the job just fine. You still have to install iTunes to use iFunbox, but hopefully I'll never need to use iTunes (or touch another iPad again - my own Android tablet lets you just copy your music/comics/ebooks etc directly to the tablet as though it's another Windows drive, none of that having to use proprietary, bloated first party programs that dictate what you do and how you do it). Thanks everyone for the answers, and I really recommend iFunbox (http://www.i-funbox.com/) for the job.
