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hacksugar: Make your own iPad car kit

by Erica Sadun Jun 3rd 2010 at 11:00AM

If you're going on a car trip and want to bring your new iPad along for the kids as you ride, you might want to consider putting together a super simple presentation system that fits easily onto any existing seat back or can be slung between the two front seats.

Behold the iBag, which TUAW discussed briefly back in a March post about cheap accessories. A few enhancements will transform your iBag into the perfect iPad presentation system; it's a veritable iPad car kit!

Here are a few points to keep in mind when creating and using your iBag car kit:
  • Duct tape will ensure the integrity of the holes that you punch into the zip bag. You can add those holes with a simple, paper-style hole puncher, by the way.
  • Next to duct tape, Velcro is man's best friend. Use Velcro cable wraps (complete with hooks and eyes) to connect your bag to the headrest or to a between-the-seats hanger.
  • Make sure the close tab is up when the bag is closed. This lets you unzip just enough to connect your car sound system to your iPad's audio jack without losing the extra side support from the bag. (I personally use a jack-to-cassette player adapter.)
  • Yes, you can touch the iPad screen through the bag. It's the magic of capacitive interfaces in action! (And yes, it's not as great as touching the screen directly.)
  • Make sure you rent your movies before you leave home because, as a rule, hotel and motel Wi-Fi service kind of stinks. It took us nearly three hours to rent Pokemon 2000. (That's not an endorsement of the movie ... seriously.)
With this simple car kit, you'll be able to amuse your school age children for as long as a full-length movie. The cost to put it together? Under a buck. Setting the audio system to only play in the back seats as they watch? Priceless!

Materials

To put this project together you'll need a freezer-worthy 1-gallon plastic zip-bag bag with at least one clear side (mine says "Hefty - 1 Gallon" on the reverse), duct tape (any color), a hole puncher, and a couple of Velcro-style cable wraps. I picked up my cable wraps at the dollar store but you can buy them online from any number of online retailers.

Steps
  1. Place the bag (also called "iBag") with the zipper closed and the zip-handle up on the right hand side. Make sure any writing is on the downward side of the bag. This ensures that the iPad can be placed in the bag with the home button to the left and the audio jack easily accessible at the top-right.
  2. Cut a length of duct tape to match the top of the bag and add it there, folded in half, so that both sides of the bag are reinforced.
  3. Punch two holes, one on each end of the duct tape.
  4. Thread a Velcro cable wrap through each hole.
  5. Install the modified iBag behind your car's front seats by wrapping the velcro around the headrest supports.
If you need to use dock-connector power with your iPad, you can cut a hole for it (you may want to reinforce it with duct tape) on the non-zipper side of the iBag.

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If you're going on a car trip and want to bring your new iPad along for the kids as you ride, you might want to consider putting together a...
 

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justin Tyler Moore

Here you go Erica... I made my own inexpensive car holder for $1...

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=174518&id=505889425&l=3f23355c70

June 19 2010 at 8:04 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Bob6stringer

Sorry, but PLS disregard my above comment*... this one's on-topic:

RE Oh, come on, people! Duct Tape, Ziploc and velcro are the Munchos, Snickers and Twinkies of the non-edible world--the pinnacle of nature's perfect processed fixes.

When I was a kid, we didn't have seat belts. We napped in the back seat with our transistor radios to our ears. And if the car hit a bump, we napped on the floor, letting the transmission hump massage our backs. And we liked it that way!

Besides, do we REALLY need all these kids running around the world?

Much love, TUAW, signed,
--Uncle Grumpy
*I can't seem to make a permanent TUAW login... 1Password logged me in (above) and entered a prior comment! Moderator, pls send me a Help contact!

June 04 2010 at 9:34 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Bob6stringer

Interesting choice.

At first brain-swipe I reflexively thought, "of course, take the MacBook!" But I'd expect the life of the iPad to be easily double that of the 'book.

June 04 2010 at 9:28 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ubermelvinbozz

awesome!

June 03 2010 at 8:01 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Daniel Brenden

Isn't it better to use Sugru for your diy needs?

June 03 2010 at 2:49 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
FearlessFreep

I stopped reading at 'Duct Tape'

June 03 2010 at 2:15 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
joe

This is quality journalism, folks

June 03 2010 at 1:48 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to joe's comment
justin Tyler Moore

Agreed. QUALITY journalism!

This is why I TUAW is number one on my topsites.

To all the nay-sayers, who are you going to sue when your child is guillotined? Ziplock or Apple or the makers of your Chevy Astrovans headrests?...lol

June 18 2010 at 1:21 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
3rdpig

quite inelegant, but functional nonetheless. Me? I'd just let the kids hold it.

June 03 2010 at 12:55 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Matthew

Why would anybody want to do this? Yeah I spent 800 dollars on my iPad and now I am going to shove it in a 2 cent plastic bag and hang it from my headrest so my little kid can put his grubby little fingers all over it. WTF

June 03 2010 at 12:51 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
PSTMD

Shouldn't TUAW / AOL add the usual legal disclaimer to this post?

Something along the lines of,

"If you are such a Cheap-A** parents that you are willing to risk the lives of your children be turning your iPad into that Xeena flying guillotine frisbee killer when your car be involved in an accident, TUAW and AOL won't be held liable because you tried to hold back 1.3 pounds of metal and glass with 175/1000 of an inch worth of plastic bag."

Your children's lives are worth the cost of a real holder that is designed to secure heavy objects safely during intense lateral deceleration forces!

PST MD

June 03 2010 at 12:51 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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