I have seen lots of discussion on trying to get datatables to present in a "card" or "panel" type view. I see there are lots of workarounds utilizing the various callbacks and events. I believe i have found the simplest method yet.
My method relies solely on CSS. Heres a few screen shots and a link to a sample page.
azguys.com/datatables/index.html
I have tested it out on Chrome and IE, they both seem agreeable to the CSS, no funny quirks. Give it a try and let me know what you think, and if it may have problems of other browsers.