8 Uses for Your Outdated iPad

With iPad Air 2 preorders starting today, you might be ready to kick your old tablet to the curb. But when the march of technology sends your slate to the junk drawer, don't just sell it off. Recycle it into a high-powered specialist device.

Here are nine new uses for your old iPad that beat ditching it for good.

A Dedicated E-reader

Why shell out $80 for a Kindle when you have a perfectly decent legacy iPad—or first-gen Kindle Fire—just gathering dust? It might not be as light as Amazon's E-Ink offering, but the iPad's bigger, brighter screen and beefier processor make it a viable alternative to keeping a clutter of books on your coffee table. Simply install your preferred reading app—iBooks, Newsstand, Flipboard, Kindle, whatever—lock your screen orientation in portrait, and curl up with your e-books.

A Comic Book Library

If you prefer graphic novels over classic literature—or if reading walls of text on the iPad's LCD screen strains your eyes— the iPad still makes a great dedicated reader. The Comics app from comiXology carries more than 30,000 titles from Marvel, DC, IDW, and indie publishers. Dark Horse fans, however, will have to use that publisher's proprietary marketplace. They're both free to download, though you will have to pay for what you read.

A Kitchen Companion

Your old iPad can also save you some kitchen counter space by replacing all of your might cooking tomes. First load your preferred cookbook app. Big Oven is great if you've already assembled a sizable recipe collection, as it leverages the phone's camera to import them from old paper cards. The app also organizes your recipes, automatically generates shopping lists, and offers an 200,000 additional cooking projects online. How to Cook Everything, by New York Times columnist Mark Bittman, is another essential, especially for neophyte cooks. This $10 app (which also works on the iPhone) explains the basics of kitchen etiquette and walks the user through more than 2,000 recipes, literally step by step. It too generates grocery lists and works with devices as old as iOS 6.1.

8 Uses for Your Outdated iPad

Once you have the app downloaded, you'll need to devise a means of suspending the iPad as you work to keep it both out of your way and out of splashing range of whatever you're cooking. Depending on how permanent you want the fixture to be and how much you want to pay, there are several options, including a dedicated iPad stand like Twelve South's Compass. Whichever method you choose, just be sure to wipe your hands before swiping the screen.

8 Uses for Your Outdated iPad

A Second Monitor

Even if that old iPad can't keep up with your shiny new laptop in terms of processing power, it can still find value as both a wireless extension of your computer's screen and a tactile input device with Air Display. This $20 app will extend or mirror your desktop to one or more wirelessly linked iPads. What's more, the app allows you to use the tablet's touchscreen interface in conjunction with your keyboard and mouse; you can even use the iPad's digital keyboard in lieu of the physical one if you prefer (but... don't do that). Simply install the free Air Display server software on your computer (it works on both Mac and PC), load the app onto your tablet and follow the setup instructions.

A Portable Media Center

Between iTunes, Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Hulu, that clunker of a tablet is still equipped with an arsenal of entertainment options; you just need to borrow a screen. If your iPad 2 or later is running at least iOS 7, you can simply use AirPlay mirroring to bounce your content to a nearby compatible television. Even if your original iPad's display isn't retina, it can hook up to something that's close.

In-Car Entertainment

If you've taken the time to load and setup your iPad as a portable entertainment center, chances are you'll end up using it to placate your kids on long road trips. This is a great idea, but fraught with peril. I mean, have you seen a kid's hands? Those sticky, grubby appendages carry more bacteria than the inside of a Komodo dragon and are capable of smearing jelly into, well, everything. To keep the little terrors from feeding Cheerios to your iPad's port, keep it strapped to the back of the driver's seat headrest—and well clear of the reach from the booster seat.

A Home Monitoring Device

Just because you're away travelling doesn't mean you can't keep a close (like, really close) eye on your home. Since a majority of home monitoring services now offer live feeds of your security cameras, you can simply run your old ipad as a dedicated home monitor. Sure, bringing a second tablet will take up valuable carry-on space but it's certainly easier than paying a house-sitter.

A Picture Frame

Perhaps the easiest way to squeeze a few more years out of your legacy tablet is as a repository of your legacy memories. Digital picture frames aren't nearly as fun as the real thing, but using an app like Wdgts to turn your Notification Center into a picture frame is a simple way to display your memories either on the go or at a special event.

Any other uses for old iPads we may have missed? Let us know below!

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