11 August 2010 17:25 GMT / By Dan Sung
Any fool can own an iPad, but it takes some special kit these days to stand out from the crowd. So, if you're after a little inspiration as to what to get up to at the weekend and happen to have a garden shed full of power tools in your back garden, then here are the best iPad mods and hack jobs in the world at the moment. Your benchmark has been set.
iPad Guitar
Usually an online reviewer of music gadgets and iPad apps, VJ Franz K took to creating one of his own, the MANTARAY iTAR. At the heart of this electro axe is the Pad - running such apps as the Aurora Sound Studio - a Kaoss Pad and some other bits and pieces. The results are a totally bizarre instrument played completely bizarrely by a pretty bizarre chap himself.
iPad wall mount with speakers
These are just the kinds of DIY skills that most of us just don't possess but then, if we did, we probably wouldn't be writing about them now. This is the iPad wall mount as hand created and painted by a gentleman with a lot of nouse.
By attaching a plastic sheet and some clips to a standard VESA TV mount, he has created a cheap, funky base for his new tablet. There's a couple of mini speakers and, best of all, it still swivels for wall mounted gameplay
iPad kitchen cupboard
Cut a perfect iPad-shaped hole into a door of a kitchen cabinet, mount your iPad behind it and, hey presto, you've got an actual sensible use for Apple's luxury device. This chap has hooked it up to a MIDI system and created himself one of the coolest kitchen features we've ever seen.
iCade
It may have started off as an April Fool's joke on Think Geek, but it seems members of the public didn't think it was such a bad idea. It doesn't have quite the same style as a fully designed mini-Pacman cabinet, but the fact that this modder has been able to attach a genuine arcade joystick and buttons is certainly not to be sniffed at.
iPad Macintosh Classic
There is absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt, no point whatsoever in turning the wonderfully designed portable device that is the iPad into the 7-kilo beige box that is the Macintosh Classic. No point whatsoever. That said, it does look oh-so-very retro chic, now, doesn't it? Of course, if you actually intend on using your iPad, you know, at all, then you might want to consider something different.
iBook iPad
On a similar theme, only slightly less old school and marginally more practical, is the person who's cleverly managed to jam an iPad into the 1999 Apple iBook laptop. What's really good about this one is that the USB keyboard is actually usable as well. So, in actual fact, the free-floating iPad has been devolved a step into a touchscreen notebook - a lumpy one too.

iPad TV
We've had the arcade, the old computer and the kitchen cupboard, it's at last our privilege to show you something a tiny bit more sensible in the shape of the good old CRT TV - and old it certainly is. Made out of wood by Jonas Damon of the New York Frog Design office, the cathode-ray style casing even includes a static video to really get that 1980s nostalgia feel.
iPad Skateboard
Perhaps not your first thought after buying a £500 device is to drill it until smoke comes out, turn it into a skateboard and and then take it up and down a half pipe until it will pipe no more. However, it certainly makes a good vid. All Apple fans look away, all Android lovers, it's time to get the popcorn out.
In-car iPad
On the very first day of launch, a chap over in Santa Clarita, USA, got his hands on a unit and did the only thing any responsible auto guy would do and shoved it into the dash of his Toyota. The vid's well worth a watch and is almost as entertaining as having an in-car iPad in the first place. Now, if it had GPS connectivity it might actually be quite useful as well.

FridgePad
The FridgePad is, to Pocket-lint's knowledge, the first attempt by a company to manufacture and actually sell a fridge magnetic iPad mount to the public at large. According to the site, it "mounts your iPad to your kitchen fridge so it’s at the heart of your home and in a perfect location for all the family to use". The only issue is that there's no mention of how strong these magnets are. Strong enough we hope, particularly as you'll have £49 to recoup along with the cost of a new iPad.
iPad walking robot
Last on our list is the cutest of all - although, strictly speaking it really has nothing whatsoever to do with an iPad. Clever as the robotics are, they could have been attached to a plank of wood with eyes drawn on. Don't suppose that would have got so many views on YouTube though.
Have you seen any other or better iPad mods out there on the intertubes? Do you think you can do any better? Point us in the right direction in the comments below or tell us what you'd make if you had the soldering skills.
Read our review of the new iPad (3rd generation)
Gadgets, Hardware, iPad, Features





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