"I'm getting an iPad 2 soon and I have a bunch of videos that are formatted in AVI movie file, and want to be able to watch the AVI movies on my iPad 2. I looked on the iPad 2 spec sheet and it seems to be able to play a few formats. But it seems that it can't play AVI videos, So Is there a free software which can enable me watch and play movies on iPad 2 for free."

According to Apple's iPad 2 tech specs, the iPad/iPad 2 does indeed support a type of AVI video: "Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format." Some Mac users might not know about video file formats. In other words, iPad supports some types of video cameras output files, displaying AVI footage via the camera card reader accessory. But it won't let you watch downloaded AVI movies on iPad/iPad 2.

Free App Plays AVI Movies on iPad/iPad 2
CineXPlayer, an iPad video player that allows you to watch Xvid (AVI) movies on iPad. It is a free app to use and you can start by copying videos to your iPad by way of iTunes File Sharing feature. First, install it. Second, drag any AVI files you have into the app's file-sharing section in iTunes, just like you do with comics, Pages documents and the like. That's it. To play a movie, just open CineXPlayer and tap on the filename. You get Play/Pause, volume and skip-to-beginning buttons, along with a zoom button, and that's it. The video just work and the sound is way louder than what you get in the too-quiet built-in player.


Watch .avi (Xvid) movies on iPad/iPad 2 with iPad Video Converter
For users who want to convert other video formats to iPad on Mac, I recommend iFunia iPad video Converter for Mac. Priced at only $29, you can use it to convert any video to iPad/iPad 2 ready format on Mac OS. It provides easy solution to convert AVI files on Mac to iPad with high-quality output file and high conversion speed. Also it provides optimized presets for your iPad, and iPad 2 so you don't need to worry about the output settings for your Apple iPad. The simple instructions below will guide you through the easy step of the way.


1. Run iFunia iPad Video Converter on your Mac and load the AVI videos by click the "Add" button.
2. Choose the right preset for your iPad device in the Convert-to drop-down menu.
3. Hit Start to convert AVI videos to iPad/iPad 2 supported video format.
4. Connect iPad/iPad 2 to computer, iTunes will detect them as a device. Select iPad device on the left panel of iTunes, drag and drop the converted MP4 video file into it. That’s done. Enjoy.

If you are a PC user, you can refer to iFunia iPad Video Converter for Windows.

Relation article:
Get and Watch Free Movies on iPad/iPad 2
How to Put Home Videos onto iPad/iPad 2
iPad 2 supported video format and audio format