iPad mini Updated: Walked in for iPad 4, walked out with iPad mini! Then walked in again... :(

AppleRobert · Nov 21, 2012

Anti-Lucifer said:
goddam, I'm the fickle one now.

You guys gonna rip me one. I walked back in and returned the mini!!!!

Sat up with the wife and talked about how great the ipad mini is - having given away the ipad 3 and selling my ipad 2 to buy the mini, now i am back with guess what?

The iPad 4! I'll be back to update the news about why....gotta restore right now!!

You were down to the return policy time period limit I bet. What about the games on the Mini? The light weight and nice size?

Only kidding. I'm in the same boat and I personally used the Mini to gauge my satisfaction with the apple ecosystem and didn't want to dish out for a higher priced IPad. Well I like Apple ALOT and might feel while nice, I may want a better device cause I think I will outgrow this Mini pretty quickly. And I like to watch videos a lot as well and much better with a bigger display..

Bet a decent amount may be returned. How can I rip anyone for getting a better device if they want to spend the money?

Anti-Lucifer · Nov 21, 2012

Restoring my new iPad 4:

I'll update why in a bit, but for now, it's NOT because of the RETINA - at least it's NOT solely the retina (or non-retina onthe mini) - it's mainly because of Anandtech's review...and the 2 year old CPU/GPU (longevity/pricing). Wife was all for it because she knew the retina was that great..and the mini was a stop gap until the real ipad mini with retina arrives.

The A6 in my iphone 5 I've been raving for a while now - I always wished they put the A6X in the new 2013 ipad, but they surprised me and put it in the ipad 4 within 7 months of me buying my ipad 3. Now I have come back - I did not wait until last day to return, I have 30 days to return (was not bought at apple).

It was extremely difficult to GIVE UP the mini - trust me, it was very very hard. But at the end, it came down to the price and the longevity - essentially, my wife said to me, "you are paying so much money to rebuy an ipad 2! - when you already sold your ipad 2 for a big loss already!) - that moment on, it clicked.

(some of you will rebuttal and say, well damn sir, you went and paid $900 (tax included) for an ipad 4 64GB LTE when you could've saved for an ipad 5!) - bottom line is I need an iPad!

Appl3FTW · Nov 21, 2012

so you paid THAT much for the iPad 4 that you know will be changed next year in 6 months (rumors) with a completely new form factor... i.e. iPad mini-like form factor.

i would've saved the mini.. and then when the iPad 5 gets released next year, jump on it... AND, u can sell the ipad mini by then and get the retina mini. this is IF all these materializes next year.

Awakener · Nov 21, 2012

Can't wait.

bigboar · Nov 21, 2012

Anti-Lucifer said:
Restoring my new iPad 4:

I'll update why in a bit, but for now, it's NOT because of the RETINA - at least it's NOT solely the retina (or non-retina onthe mini) - it's mainly because of Anandtech's review...and the 2 year old CPU/GPU (longevity/pricing). Wife was all for it because she knew the retina was that great..and the mini was a stop gap until the real ipad mini with retina arrives.

The A6 in my iphone 5 I've been raving for a while now - I always wished they put the A6X in the new 2013 ipad, but they surprised me and put it in the ipad 4 within 7 months of me buying my ipad 3. Now I have come back - I did not wait until last day to return, I have 30 days to return (was not bought at apple).

It was extremely difficult to GIVE UP the mini - trust me, it was very very hard. But at the end, it came down to the price and the longevity - essentially, my wife said to me, "you are paying so much money to rebuy an ipad 2! - when you already sold your ipad 2 for a big loss already!) - that moment on, it clicked.

(some of you will rebuttal and say, well damn sir, you went and paid $900 (tax included) for an ipad 4 64GB LTE when you could've saved for an ipad 5!) - bottom line is I need an iPad!

I don't blame you...Enjoy the 4!!

PNutts · Nov 21, 2012

Anti-Lucifer said:
I'll update why in a bit, but for now, it's NOT because of the RETINA - at least it's NOT solely the retina (or non-retina onthe mini) - it's mainly because of Anandtech's review...and the 2 year old CPU/GPU (longevity/pricing). Wife was all for it because she knew the retina was that great..and the mini was a stop gap until the real ipad mini with retina arrives.

The wifey and I talked about replacing our kid's original iPad with a Mini but like you I was underwhelmed with the specs. I'm now staying away from first generation devices (I'm still still bitter about the iPhone 4) and will wait to see what direction the iPad Mini heads.

kodeman53 · Nov 21, 2012

PNutts said:
(I'm still still bitter about the iPhone 4)

You're kidding, right? Bitter?

Ladybug · Nov 21, 2012

No rebuttal from me. Don't get me wrong, I love my mini but I think people should buy what works for them. I have an iPad 3 so the 4 was never on my radar to begin with. Anyway, glad you figured out what works best for you. Enjoy!

Anti-Lucifer · Nov 21, 2012

Ok I'm nearly done restoring. I didn't even get a chance to explore the new iPad 4 but so far it's so damn retina-tastic, it's wonderful. The size is bigger and more cumbersome but what a man gonna do when there is no retina ipad mini!?

So the reality is that the mini is extremely attractive and much more so than an iPad. But after reviewing the review from anandtech about the mini and how the wife was saying the mini is the same as an iPad 2 and how I sold my iPad 2 for a loss then to rebuy another ipad2?! It hit me then.

The iPad mini is the future of small tablets. But I truly see that there is a market for smaller iPads. But also at the same time the appeal of the bigger ipad in retina with faster internals than my iPhone 5 is the major deal breaker for owning a mini. Even though there may be another iPad redesigned in 2013 or come six months, owning this iPad 4 I will be sure my money was well spent on the newest and fastest. Based on the anandtech review of the mini and compared to the iPad 4, it's very easy to see the benefits of the new iPad 4.

I don't have an iPad 3 anymore so basically I didn't have a retina and yes I missed it so dearly. The screen is just incredible. If I didn't have this epiphany about the mini basically being an iPad 2, I would've just kept it. I'm going to explore how fast this iPad 4 really is!

Until the new mini retina arrives, the ipad 4 will have to make do! Lets see how fast this sucker is!

shadowjeff · Nov 21, 2012

In the same position as you, except without the wife

I love the size of the ipad mini but the more I use it, the more the screen quality bugs me. Comparing to the ipad 4, the mini's build quality on the screen doesn't feel solid, it feels kinda 'plasticky' when you tap on it.

Another reason would be since I'm using the ipad solely at home, it's pretty much a no brainier to get one with a bigger screen; the ipad mini is just too small on movies and the text size on the ipad mini tires my eyes easily.

The ipad mini is just soooo amazing to carry around and playing games on it, is just sooo much fun. I believe the ipad mini is gonna be one of the best selling handheld devices for games soon to come. If you're always taking the ipad out of the house, it is such a delight to use the ipad mini. It works just like in the ad, where the guy just pulls out the ipad mini from his bag while walking around. I tried it and its truly satisfying.

Gonna be picking up an ipad 4 on Black Friday to do a comparison before I return one of them.

iPadMini · Nov 21, 2012

I sold my iPad 2 to purchase the Mini, having never owned a retina device, the screen doesn't bother me. I used to own a Nexus 7 prior to this, and my only complaint is that the Mini is just too wide. If they scaled it down a little bit and added a retina display, this thing would be awesome.

KingArthurVI · Nov 21, 2012

Anti-Lucifer said:
Restoring my new iPad 4:

I'll update why in a bit, but for now, it's NOT because of the RETINA - at least it's NOT solely the retina (or non-retina onthe mini) - it's mainly because of Anandtech's review...and the 2 year old CPU/GPU (longevity/pricing). Wife was all for it because she knew the retina was that great..and the mini was a stop gap until the real ipad mini with retina arrives.

The A6 in my iphone 5 I've been raving for a while now - I always wished they put the A6X in the new 2013 ipad, but they surprised me and put it in the ipad 4 within 7 months of me buying my ipad 3. Now I have come back - I did not wait until last day to return, I have 30 days to return (was not bought at apple).

It was extremely difficult to GIVE UP the mini - trust me, it was very very hard. But at the end, it came down to the price and the longevity - essentially, my wife said to me, "you are paying so much money to rebuy an ipad 2! - when you already sold your ipad 2 for a big loss already!) - that moment on, it clicked.

(some of you will rebuttal and say, well damn sir, you went and paid $900 (tax included) for an ipad 4 64GB LTE when you could've saved for an ipad 5!) - bottom line is I need an iPad!

Hi do you know if it's possible to restore my iPad mini's data to my new iPad 4? will that cause some of the "remnants" or "unwanted" data to be transferred over to the new iPad? Thanks!

CandyNJ66 · Nov 21, 2012

I got an iPad Mini tonight and am in love with it!! I game a lot so the size and featherweight is perfection for me.

My screen is very good looking and nowhere near what people said. I'm beginning to think some people got inferior screens to some others. Mine looks fine. Yes, on websites the text is smaller, not as crisp but looks ok to me!

Games run smooth with no lag and I tried Asphalt 7, Dead Trigger and other high graphic intensive games.

I'm a very happy owner. I'm giving one as a gift too. I plan to exchange it at the Apple store next month for a Verizon LTE version if I can afford it.

Anti-Lucifer · Nov 21, 2012

KingArthurVI said:
Hi do you know if it's possible to restore my iPad mini's data to my new iPad 4? will that cause some of the "remnants" or "unwanted" data to be transferred over to the new iPad? Thanks!

Hi Everyone, good evening to you and happy thanksgiving or in my case, thankstaking!

Ok, so I restored my backup from my ipad mini but something isn't right at all. In fact, the ipad 4 seems to be as fast as my ipad 2/mini, and last I recalled, my ipad 3. What I mean is that there is stuttering in games like galaxy on fire HD and real racing 2 HD. I dont' understand either the entire iPad 4 has not been optimized by apple/devs or I just have some bad restore sample. Not just the games but the web surfing on it seems to be meh at best. It's actually THE SAME AS MY IPAD MINI. On my iphone 5, it's blazing fast. ON the iPad 4, it's just the same??? And worse, when task switching on my iphone 5, it's amazingly fast, no lag, not one lag at all. On the ipad 4, you can't even scroll the safari browser when you task switch to it nor does the switched to app responds instantly; on my iphone 5, you can switch to any app and instantly responds to your gestures...on the ipad 4, it's NOT LIKE THIS!

So I reset all contents and tried again, this time I tried safari - it is quite fast! Not blazing, but I think by the seat of your pants feel, it's definitely snappy. The task switching is still the same laggy crap???!! I'm actually very disappointed. I was expecting the A6 to be on par with my iphone 5 in terms of switching tasks and being able to instantly access the app. On the ipad 4, loading apps seems to take the same amount of time, but for some games like bejeweled HD, PvsZ, it is quite fast. Everything else is the same as on my ipad2/mini/ipad 3???

I swear, apple must not of had enough time to optimize the ipad 4 in ios 6.0 what a complete fail - no wonder scott forstall got the boot. Seriously, under the hood, there is so much horsepower but it seems so underutilized. When I saw games like GOF2 HD stutter at retina res., I was just completely dumbfounded. I expected it to be running consistently smooth! Games like riptide was running ultra fast and smooth but no water effects like that on the iphone 5. Now I know the GPU on the iphone 5 is no slouch, but the ipad 4 should be rockin' all the effects.

Overall, I am really stuck in the middle. I really want my ipad mini back - the ipad 4 is as heavy as my ipad 3 (which I gave away to my in-law) - and the ipad 2 is lighter! I don't like playing games on it because it's very heavy! At least it gets really tiresome and a real chore to hold for more than 1 minute.

I'm really really pissed off because I spent $900 tax included on this 64GB LTE model and I'm expecting to be blown away and since I've had an ipad 3, I do miss the retina sorely but again, the entire package is just painful to use. I mean I can't even hold it the edges actually dig into my hand and it becomes red after long use. I'm really thinking of dumping this back to the store and getting a 64GB LTE mini instead.

I don't want to pay $720 tax included for the 64GB LTE mini because I'd be buying back the ipad 2 I sold but at a huge loss! That's what is really pissing me off, on one hand, the ipad 4 is worth the hardware specs, the other hand, the mini is the best package overall and I'd use it constantly vs the ipad 4. But the biggest gripe isn't the lack of retina (well, I'd say 40% valued for me) - it's the fact I'm paying AGAIN for an ipad 2 I just sold. It's too painful to know I am getting sorta ripped off.

What to do?! My wife is ready to kick me in the nuts for being such a fickle douche about these gadgets. She loves the ipad 4 but thinks I'm dumb for paying so much for an ipad 2 in a small form factor - when paying for an ipad 4 seems to be the wiser choice.

I'm going to try more games after my reset, I'm going to load up infinity blade 2, try out some racing games again. The stuttering in some games just makes me believe the devs have not even begun to optimize for the ipad 4. It's like your ferrari with the rev limiter set at 2000rpm, you can't go faster than 40mph.

WTF

edit: I have to also add the fact that when inside the app store, it's quite SLOW. In fact, I'd say it's the same speed as my ipad 2/3/mini! WTF, either the entire app store is gone down the toilet in previewing performance or something isn't right with the ipad 4. I don't know what apple is doing to the app store, but the entire layout and format is just really slow.

Now for those wondering about the ipad 4 web speeds, even though my ipad 4 scores a whopping 834ms in the sunspider 9.1 tests, it's really not that much faster in real practical use compared to my iPad 2. I'm quite disappointed because for some reason, on the iphone (rendering the full website not the mobile sites), it's amazingly FAST. On the ipad 4, having a faster clocked A6, it's not fast or feels that fast like it does on my iPhone 5. So if you think you have a slow mini, rest assured, it's not slow - its the same speed as an ipad 4! But I think for games, if it runs 1024x768 on the ipad 4 with scaling, it's quite awesome because the ipad 4 can spit out frame rates that no ipad 2 can match. But for native 1024x768 gaming (which looks fantastic anyway on the mini), I don't think there is any advantage. I'm looking for effects on the ipad 4 in games but I see nothing!

So if you guys are ever wondering, don't 'even worry, the ipad 4 is really not that great

WilliamG · Nov 21, 2012

To be fair, the new App Store is a disaster even on my iPhone 5. I have no idea why Apple changed it. It's laggy, slow etc.

Anyway, first, I don't like the iPad mini at all. The lack of retina display IS a deal-killer to me, plain and simple. That said, I respect the fact that people like it. You're not just re-buying an iPad 2. You're buying an iPad mini. It's a smaller, lighter iPad. The only thing about it that's similar to the iPad 2 is its speed. Aside from that, it's not an iPad 2 at all. It's lighter, smaller, has a greater DPI despite the same resolution, and is more comfortable to hold.

You'll go back and forth, of course. But I personally think if you're not comfortable with the iPad 4, get the mini. It sounds like the only reason you didn't like the mini is because it bothers you psychologically. When you're using it, you love it. So get it back, already! The iPad 4 clearly bothers you.

PS I've no idea what's wrong with your iPad 4. Mine is blazing fast, much faster than the iPad 2 and 3.

thadoggfather · Nov 21, 2012

Mini is not exactly ipad 2 because:

Different and much better camera
45nm vs 32nm
Lightning port
Smaller size/new design/light as can be
Dual speakers
New screen/tighter ppi than ipad1 and 2

But yes it's A5 and 512MB ram just like ipad 2 and not retina. I know how you feel but hopefully that's a bit of a smooth over. And I could totally see mini2 being a6 and 8mp just like people were expecting ipad2 would "have to have retina". And 2012 MBA would have to have retina... Yea.

I felt ew going from 2 to 3 with a5x knowing fully well it was a5 CPU with x graphics power to get retina powered. But I did it and after lots of swaps (3 screens were crap, went through too many to get a non multiple hue or pink bleed screen). That's the nice thing about non retina, defect rate seems much less. But I sold 2 for 440 so 3 open box was an amazing move and so is "good" retina. The 4 doesn't seem worth it to me. New silicone (A6x, A6 class beyond A5) is awesome but same design and weight and overall experience as 3 except I don't game often or even play intense games and rely on jail break for xbmc.

Shouldn't have tossed your 3 prematurely. Ideally keep that, get mini (but not the most expensive model because you're going to be slaughtered up front paying double the base price and getting little return in resell) sell mini when mini2 or mini3 retina (dunno what's gonna happen) production rumors ramp up, using ipad 3 exclusively during the down time between minis.

Hope that helped? Not sure. Sounds sort of like what my plan might be. I'm on day2 with mini and don't want to act hastily and without careful thought.

I have to get rid of my nexus7 really soon to feel better about the recent purchase, anyways! Argh

iAppl3Fan · Nov 21, 2012

Anti-Lucifer said:
This is another "I can't believe it's not butter" kind of thread so you have been warned!

Cool Story:

I walked in ready to buy an ipad 4. Having owned and ipad 3 LTE and and ipad 2 3G, I will say that for those who are on the fence of buying an ipad mini or an ipad retina, you will know once you hold the ipad mini.

The ipad mini display is not retina. It's not even close...but it's clearly good enough and better than the ipad 2! In fact, with SIRI, iphone 5 front camera, ipad 3/4 rear cameras and the video stablization DSP, along with a cool running A5, it's clearly a very well packaged device.

I got rid of my ipad 2, collected the money and was ready to buy an ipad 4. It was NOT an easy decision. The ipad 3 LTE I rarely used LTE and in fact, I never even activated the LTE SIM. On my ipad 2 3G, I used the $14.99 AT&T data plan ONCE. That was a year ago. I also bought the 3G/LTE for the GPS but found that I've only used navigon on my ipads no more than 5 times. I have an iphone 5 now and I use it for navigation instead.

Long story, but I gave the ipad retina to my father in law. He deserved it very much but I regretted that giveaway in less than 24 hours because I had to go back to my ipad 2, it was so hard the text on that 9.7" display is so blurry, it was just very hard for me and I dreaded viewing web pages for a few weeks.

I was skeptical of the ipad mini and today I went into the store and played with the mini and the ipad 4 for nearly an hour. The decision wasn't merely because of the retina, it had to do with the price and the fact the real ipad successor is due out soon! I didn't want a deal like going from iphone 4 -> iphone 4S when the iphone 5 is clearly superior.

So I said, forget it, and having tried out the mini on major websites and going back and forth between the retina ipad and the mini, it was clear I always came back to the mini. The size, weight and overall package is just clearly a better buy for me. I walked out with a 64GB WIFI ipad mini! In fact, retina ipad is so good in the display, it was just so hard to say yes to the ipad mini - but then being able to hold it further away when I couldn't do that with an iPad 2/ipad 3, I was able to enjoy the ipad mini's screen much more so than my ipad 2! Of course I wish it to be retina but if they come out with one next year, I will buy the mini retina! I will just sell the ipad mini by then.

I lost alot of money selling the ipad 2 64GB 3G and I knew that I didn't want to lose that much selling my ipad 4 if I had bought that. The mini is new so it's easier to sell...you reallyhave to use the mini extensively to realize how damn good it is! It is so good, I was able to forego the RETINA DISPLAY and choose the ipad mini.

I can only imagine the buying frenzy if the mini was retina! Bottom line is if you go out and try out the ipad mini, it will really change your mind. I can see why it is sold out and let me say that I am 100% content with the ipad mini. The siri is great, the cameras are fantastic, and best of all I can carry it everywhere and use it with ease. The ipad 3/4 is just great but it's not as ideal as an ipad mini when you need to use it everywhere and because of the weight, you can hold it further away from your eyes and that will convince you the display is good enough!

Image

Image

Congrats on the Mini. Just a question. How much did you sell the 64GB iPad 2 3G for?

KeepCalmPeople · Nov 22, 2012

To the OP:

Reading your posts on this thread, it seems to me you don't really know what you want. You've been caught up in all the Apple marketing hype and the new product releases that have happened in the past two months. You persuaded yourself (or Apple persuaded you?) that the iPad mini was the perfect compromise. You (rightly IMO) then realized that the iPad mini is just a smaller, cheaper iPad 2. You would have known that just reviewing the specs.
So you then got an iPad 4, and despite ALL the reviews and anecdotal evidence that the 4 is faster but not fantastically faster than the 3/2, you expected to be blown away by the iPad 4s performance and were not. And now all of a sudden the full-size iPad is too heavy and uncomfortable.

My advice - understand that neither device is perfect, make a decision based on your prioritized requirements, and don't look back.

And a piece of advice for everyone - once you've bought a new Apple toy, don't visit MR for at least 2 months. You are almost bound to read something that will give you second thoughts about your purchase. Just enjoy it.

bagelmaker · Nov 22, 2012

It seems clear that you actually prefer the mini. Just get it, enjoy it. Don't worry about the ipad2 that you already sold. If the Mini doesn't feel like a good deal to you and you are worried about feeling regretful maybe just get 32gigs or do just wifi. Spend less, enjoy it for a year and then buy the fully loaded mini whenever it comes out. In my opinion your decision was clear when you said you would use a mini much more often than the 4. That's the whole point, to use it and enjoy it.

AlterZgo · Nov 22, 2012

Anti-Lucifer said:
Ok I'm nearly done restoring. I didn't even get a chance to explore the new iPad 4 but so far it's so damn retina-tastic, it's wonderful. The size is bigger and more cumbersome but what a man gonna do when there is no retina ipad mini!?

You do like I did and kept the iPad 3 w/ retina display and added an iPad mini to the collection. Enjoy the best of both worlds. Still use the iPad mini 95% of the time due to portability, light weight, etc. Once in a while, when my kids are not using it, I will fire up the iPad 3 and enjoy the beautiful retina display... but I just don't use it much b/c the mini's form factor is near perfect and so much easier to carry around. And no, I don't miss the retina display either then I go back to the mini - probably b/c I know I have a retina iPad 3 that I can use whenever I want.

I agree that a retina iPad mini will be just about the perfect device, IF they manage to keep the weight the same or less. If the retina iPad mini is noticeably heavier than the current mini, I will pass on it until the weight comes down in a couple of generations.

AppleRobert · Nov 22, 2012

There is plenty of comparison data on Anandtech's review. If what your seeing with the 4 doesn't match their testing, something is wrong somewhere. And also, have there been any other threads in this forum about the 4's performance being not that all great??

Liking the Apple ecosystem alot and me being a newbie to it, my situation is different. Do I want to keep something I know is older technology or move to a better bigger brother?

syd430 · Nov 22, 2012

Be a man and take that plastic cover off

clyde2801 · Nov 22, 2012

KeepCalmPeople said:
To the OP:

Reading your posts on this thread, it seems to me you don't really know what you want. You've been caught up in all the Apple marketing hype and the new product releases that have happened in the past two months. You persuaded yourself (or Apple persuaded you?) that the iPad mini was the perfect compromise. You (rightly IMO) then realized that the iPad mini is just a smaller, cheaper iPad 2. You would have known that just reviewing the specs.
So you then got an iPad 4, and despite ALL the reviews and anecdotal evidence that the 4 is faster but not fantastically faster than the 3/2, you expected to be blown away by the iPad 4s performance and were not. And now all of a sudden the full-size iPad is too heavy and uncomfortable.

My advice - understand that neither device is perfect, make a decision based on your prioritized requirements, and don't look back.

And a piece of advice for everyone - once you've bought a new Apple toy, don't visit MR for at least 2 months. You are almost bound to read something that will give you second thoughts about your purchase. Just enjoy it.

It seems to me that besides the lack of retina, there's really at least two use cases for the different sized iPads:

The 9.7" is for people (like myself) who used to lug around a notebook or netbook around everywhere. I prefer a physical keyboard for typing more than four words, which my logitech ultrathin does admirably. The keyboard and form factor is essential for me to respond to emails, do docket entries, and take notes on location I do a lot of reading scanned PDF's, and take scanned client files with me out of the office. I often have to show a document or exhibit to someone else, and I can't imagine effectively doing that on an 7.9" screen. I'm a middle aged professional who recently had to start wearing bifocals. I don't carry it with me everywhere, but am never more than three minutes away from it, so the weight doesn't bother me. Unless I'm in bed or my easy chair, I generally use the keyboard cover as a stand to use it while reading. I've also been using this sized iPad since the original version for these purposes, so my usage patterns are pretty well set.

The 7.9" seems to be for people who want more of a mobile browsing/reading/watching experience than the iPhone while still wanting a device that that they will literally have on their person at all times.

I had to get a desktop power supply from best buy early yesterday evening; my shut in friend's one went out, and I desperately wanted to get this taken care of before Black Friday madness started. I stopped to notice the people in tents in front of the store when I noticed the assigned Apple guy beside me witnessing the same thing. In one hand, he had his iPhone 5 to take pictures. In the other was a black mini.

I asked him about the mini and the retina brouhaha. He handed me his mini and explained how he uses it as a complement or enhancement to his iPhone. He also proclaimed himself to be "one of the biggest retina snobs on the planet" but stated that the form factor made it indispensable for his needs. His black mini with a darkish smart cover was also a well made, nicely crafted, gorgeous looking device.

I'm thinking the controversies concerning the "heaviness" of the iP3/iP4 and the lack of retina on the mini may be in fact that there are at least two different usage patterns and corresponding expectations for the different devices.

The kicker is, I was one of the people thinking that 'No way I'm gonna get the mini until it has a retina display.' But I'm starting to realize that it may not suit my purposes even then. OTOH, my wife, who's always browsing web pages on her iP2, would probably love the hell out of the mini.

nospleen · Nov 22, 2012

If you are not completely satisfied with either, I'd go with the one that costs less...

Seems like you liked the mini until you read Anandtech's review. I read reviews before I buy something, but after I own it, I judge by my experience and not the reviewers.

Good luck and I hope it works out for you.

christophermdia · Nov 22, 2012

thadoggfather said:
Shouldn't have tossed your 3 prematurely. Ideally keep that, get mini (but not the most expensive model because you're going to be slaughtered up front paying double the base price and getting little return in resell) sell mini when mini2 or mini3 retina (dunno what's gonna happen) production rumors ramp up, using ipad 3 exclusively during the down time

Exactly my approach, sold my wife's iPad 2 gave her my 3, bought myself a Mini and a 4....liked the mini so much I took back the 4, bought my wife a mini for Xmas and at that point will use the 3 as the "house" iPad for when someone wants the bigger version. 2 weeks in and I haven't felt the need to go bigger, I love this thing.

iPad mini Updated: Walked in for iPad 4, walked out with iPad mini! Then walked in again... :(

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