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Amplelink

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 8, 2012
933
392
I admit it. I bought into all the un-hype about a lack of retina. Even felt the same when I saw it at an Apple store. But I finally brought one home today and I have to say, this is exactly what I've been looking for in a tablet. The lack of a retina is not an issue at all, even as an owner of every single retina iOS device that Apple's put out. Text is noticeably less crisp than a retina, but still absolutely fine for reading. I do have to zoom in in web pages, but I had to do that in my retina iPad anyway. No big deal.

All in all, an excellent device and at a much more palatable price than its big brother.
 

THiPad

macrumors member
Sep 19, 2010
49
0
I love my MINI too, and since I wear reading glasses anyway...I frequently zoom
in on pages on my full size iPad also. No big deal!!!

It does charge up very slow compared to my IPad 2.
 

CandyNJ66

macrumors regular
Feb 11, 2009
249
10
USA
I also thought that the Mini screen would be way inferior to Retina but its just fine! I don't even Zoom so far on web browsers. I love my Mini!!

The size and super light weight is perfect for me. I can't wait to upgrade to the LTE version but hope I don't get a bad screen! I might just tether my Android phone to it with my Hotspot feature.

Anyway, I was wrong too :)
 

ixodes

macrumors 601
Jan 11, 2012
4,429
3
Pacific Coast, USA
Mine is just fine.

It will be interesting to see how Apple prices the upcoming retina equipped mini. This may be the first Apple product with very low resale value.
 

raccoonboy

macrumors 6502a
Oct 22, 2012
918
5
They should keep one seperate thread for those who'd like to post their happiness about the Ipad mini.
 

thadoggfather

macrumors P6
Oct 1, 2007
15,539
16,253
I am enjoying mine as well, day 2.

I'm still not sure if I can bring myself to get rid of the full-sized retina 3. Or maybe even the mini because as of now, I'm pretty roped into the form factor and see a lot of application for it.
 

thadoggfather

macrumors P6
Oct 1, 2007
15,539
16,253
Steve was wrong too.

He said smaller tablets are DOA but mine gets past the apple logo and boots to the lock screen? Do I have an outlier?


:D
 

kodeman53

macrumors 65816
May 4, 2012
1,091
1
It will be interesting to see how Apple prices the upcoming retina equipped mini.

Interesting how this has gone from guess to fact, even though Anandtech says it's not possible without other changes/compromises to the device.
 

MonkeySee....

macrumors 68040
Sep 24, 2010
3,858
437
UK
I agree OP. I heard so much negativity around the screen and then I saw it in store and just couldn't believe what the fuss was all about.

Its perfectly fine for the device and unless you're right up close you wouldn't know any different.
 

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,419
43,307
I'm in agreement with the OP, the display is not retina, and its obvious but, I wasn't expecting that either.

Its a fine tablet that suits my needs
 

WilliamLondon

macrumors 68000
Dec 8, 2006
1,699
13
I admit it. I bought into all the un-hype about a lack of retina. Even felt the same when I saw it at an Apple store. But I finally brought one home today and I have to say, this is exactly what I've been looking for in a tablet. The lack of a retina is not an issue at all, even as an owner of every single retina iOS device that Apple's put out. Text is noticeably less crisp than a retina, but still absolutely fine for reading. I do have to zoom in in web pages, but I had to do that in my retina iPad anyway. No big deal.

All in all, an excellent device and at a much more palatable price than its big brother.

Very cool, thanks for the post! Before this device was launched I was determined that if it came out with the resolution which it has, I'd end up buying one of the higher resolution Android tablets. After seeing it at launch, I was impressed with the whole package, the beauty of the device, the thinness of it, the form factor, and when I saw the screen I was pleasantly surprised at just how good it is, so I bought one. Using it every day, it's even better, especially because all those iPad apps out there just work on this device, and that is a huge benefit to mini owners. All my old iPad apps just loaded up and worked beautifully.

While the screen isn't as good as it can be, and hopefully will be some day (did you read Anandtech's review?), I think this device is more than just its screen and resolution, it's the whole package and I think it does 'the whole package' very well.
 

iLLUMI

macrumors 6502a
Aug 1, 2012
567
281
I think a lot of us have unfairly judged the Mini. :(
It really is quite awesome as I found out today after playing with one.

Black Friday tomorrow, will be checking for good deals on Mini. :D
 

mattopotamus

macrumors G5
Jun 12, 2012
14,666
5,879
I have both and think they are both great. Every time I think I will sell my 4 and just use the mini, I look at the retina screen and decide to keep both haha.
 

ScottNWDW

macrumors 65816
Jul 10, 2008
1,231
315
Orlando, Florida
I've had my mini a week now and it has become my most used device. I rarely even turn on my 3rd Gen iPad anymore. I never thought the screen was that bad at all. In fact it looked better than my 1st gen iPad and better than the iPad 2 that I was comparing it with in the Apple Store. I am able to read web pages just fine and with minimal zooming if at all. I also love the fact that all I had to do was log in with my Apple ID and everything that was on my iPad 3 just moved over to the mini.

The form factor is perfect for me. Throw it in my backpack or messenger bag and off I go. The other nice thin is that I can hold a lot more now since I got the 64gb iPad mini and my iPad 3 was just 16gb. My iPad 1 was 32gb. I won the iPad 3 at work, otherwise that would have had at least 32gb so I can't complain about the lack of storage space.

Overall though I really love the mini and the screen is really better than expected. The negativity to the screen is unnecessary and I'm guessing that most of it came from people who heard it was not a retina display and just immediately hated it, even though they may have never even looked at it.
 

mattopotamus

macrumors G5
Jun 12, 2012
14,666
5,879
I've had my mini a week now and it has become my most used device. I rarely even turn on my 3rd Gen iPad anymore. I never thought the screen was that bad at all. In fact it looked better than my 1st gen iPad and better than the iPad 2 that I was comparing it with in the Apple Store. I am able to read web pages just fine and with minimal zooming if at all. I also love the fact that all I had to do was log in with my Apple ID and everything that was on my iPad 3 just moved over to the mini.

The form factor is perfect for me. Throw it in my backpack or messenger bag and off I go. The other nice thin is that I can hold a lot more now since I got the 64gb iPad mini and my iPad 3 was just 16gb. My iPad 1 was 32gb. I won the iPad 3 at work, otherwise that would have had at least 32gb so I can't complain about the lack of storage space.

Overall though I really love the mini and the screen is really better than expected. The negativity to the screen is unnecessary and I'm guessing that most of it came from people who heard it was not a retina display and just immediately hated it, even though they may have never even looked at it.

I think everyone is just different when it comes to screens. My eyes are very sensitive and can definitely notice a difference. I can look at a screen and tell you right away if it is 720p or 1080P.....led, LCD, or plasma. The backlighting has a lot to do with it and I think everyone's eyes are different. The mini is great and the screen is good, but I don't see how people do not notice a massive difference.
 

ucfgrad93

macrumors Core
Aug 17, 2007
19,522
10,810
Colorado
I'm in agreement with the OP, the display is not retina, and its obvious but, I wasn't expecting that either.

Its a fine tablet that suits my needs

Agreed. It clearly isn't as good as a retina screen, but it isn't nearly as bad as some people make it out to be.
 

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,419
43,307
Agreed. It clearly isn't as good as a retina screen, but it isn't nearly as bad as some people make it out to be.

And for those that do think its that bad, there's other tablets available that will suit their needs better. The bottom line is, one size does not fit all, and if one product does not fit your needs move on and get one that does.
 

nfl46

macrumors G3
Oct 5, 2008
8,326
8,609
Haha. This typically happens. After a few weeks, people finally come to the realization that the screen isn't that bad. We may finally start seeing less topics on complaints of the lack of retina. When people video games, it doesn't look bad, its just the text. But, I love the mini.
 
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