Because I lead such a busy life, I tend to prefer things like TiVO to help me watch things at a later time than their schedule appearance. My computer setup includes some serious hardware capabilities for these purposes as well included a lot of recording space. So it is kind of process for me to actually get to watch the shows on my iPad, but I do it by copying folders and files onto my laptop and then from there use some kind of third party application that can transfer the files onto my iPad for my viewing pleasure.  If your using some type of device to have the files transferred to, then using something like DivX makes is easy to watch and the files don’t get too big and crowd up your space. Another great thing about DivX is even though the space you use a relatively small amount, the picture quality of the shows themselves tend to be quite good.  Most different movie and show playing devices will accept DivX, its one of those applications that pretty much work on anything.  While this is great for other devices, what I really wanted is was an app that was native to the iPad. That is exactly what I got from the company called VLC. It’s a great application that you can use on the iPad to watch any type of DivX formatted or AVI formatted media.

How Well Does It Work?

This application is a good universal type application. It works with all kind of files such as   AVI’s, MKV’s and MPG’s.   It’s also very easy to use. Uploading files to your system is really quite simple and fast to do (the company has made sure of that). You can go into iTunes and select the button that allows you to sync your files, and your done. Everything is very simple and doesn’t have a long drawn out list of directions to confuse you. I like user interfaces, and this is one application that really impressed me with its design.   It doesn’t have to be crazy beautiful or anything like that, I just like it to run properly and function the way it is supposed to. The way the storing of files is setup is just like iBooks, where you can put them on a shelf. I really think that this design works to my advantage. You also can look at a small movie screen which has the movies name or file name listed below it.

For the Future

As with a lot of different apps like this, if you have a higher quality video it can be very unsteady and something with normal definition runs just fine.  The developers didn’t actually use the acceleration that the iPad offers internally to help the app run a bit faster for higher quality videos, which is a bit of a bummer.  I do here from the vine that they are currently working to find a solution to this problem.  Although the app really does collaborate with a lot of different files, there are a couple that it doesn’t including .flv file.  It also isn’t compatible with any lower versions than the iOS 3.2. It also doesn’t quite work with the Beta 4.2 either. Providing services for the 4.2 would be exceptional.

The Conclusion

VLC really does offer this item as a top-of-the-line alternative to anything else out there that can play your DivX media.  It may not be crazy fast, but it is simple to use and offers a great functionality as far as the UI is concerned.  It’s a free application, so you don’t have to fork out any cash and if you are someone who enjoys a good flick now and then and would like something native for your iPad, this is the way to go.