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AzzUrr1

macrumors member
Original poster
May 17, 2012
61
34
Karlsruhe
Hi,
I'm leaving England tomorrow and I have the chance to get a 50€ cheaper iPad Mini.

I was thinking about getting it but I'm just not sure if it's worth it.

The Main issue I'm worried about is the non Retina Display. I absolultley love the size and design but I'm used to the iPhone5 Retina Display and not sure if I will like the non Retina one.

Can someone report about his experience?
 

TofSanity

Cancelled
Oct 29, 2010
1,498
2,935
Hi,
I'm leaving England tomorrow and I have the chance to get a 50€ cheaper iPad Mini.

I was thinking about getting it but I'm just not sure if it's worth it.

The Main issue I'm worried about is the non Retina Display. I absolultley love the size and design but I'm used to the iPhone5 Retina Display and not sure if I will like the non Retina one.

Can someone report about his experience?

I have the iPad mini which I really liked when I first bought, but I've recently started to notice the text being a little too pixelated. I have an iPhone 5 and rMBP so the lack of retina is quite noticeable. I do enjoy it, but will be replacing either when I see the size of the new iPad 5 or when a mini gets a retina. otherwise its pretty great!
 

Luis2004

macrumors 6502a
Dec 30, 2012
615
1
I went from an iPad 3 to the mini and am very happy.

Having said that, I'll definitely be jumping to the retina mini if it ever comes out (PDF and web reading isn't nearly as good as retina. But iBooks and videos are fine).

But I'll never go to a full sized iPad again. The feel and weight is second to none.
 

WilliamLondon

macrumors 68000
Dec 8, 2006
1,699
13
I'm in England and I'm curious why it'd be cheaper here than just about anywhere else, I always assumed in Europe this would be the most expensive place to buy one (especially considering currency exchange rates, but then again I haven't travelled outside England in far too long I'm sad to say).

I have a mini, and I have an iPhone 5. I love, love, love my mini, and I think the iPhone is a beautiful device, but my mini is the device I reach for when I want to do something, about the only time I pull my phone out to do more than calling or messaging is when I've got a few minutes during lunch at work and I don't have my mini with me and I want to read the Economist.

The mini is a great device, the screen is wonderful (I think), not as great as retina but that doesn't mean awful or horrid as some here "claim", but still lovely, I've got no issues with it at all. I use mine for reading PDFs (main reason I bought it) and it does a great job. I also play quite a few games on it (it's superb for that - my poor PS3 sat idle for a couple of months after I first got my mini). Great device, highly recommend getting one.
 

cardfan

macrumors 601
Mar 23, 2012
4,192
5,270
Is the ipad mini worth it? Probably not. I still tend to use my iphone 5 all the time over the Mini. The iphone is faster, has a better screen for reading, etc..
 

Vikinguy

macrumors 6502
Sep 19, 2007
407
12
I sold my ipad 3 which I loved but needed some quick cash. i picked up the mini last weekend with a heavy dose of best buy reward zone bucks and I have to say it's fantastic.
 

izzle22

macrumors 65816
Jul 13, 2004
1,252
811
Kansas City, MO
Hi,
I'm leaving England tomorrow and I have the chance to get a 50€ cheaper iPad Mini.

I was thinking about getting it but I'm just not sure if it's worth it.

The Main issue I'm worried about is the non Retina Display. I absolultley love the size and design but I'm used to the iPhone5 Retina Display and not sure if I will like the non Retina one.

Can someone report about his experience?

Yes it's worth it. I have an iPhone 5, iPad 4 and a iPad Mini. I use the Mini the most due to it's portability and weight. It's much easier to read on than the tiny iPhone 5 screen. Retina is not that big of a deal and not that much different even though there are so many people on this forum who think it's amazingly incredible (eyes rolling). You will most likely be very happy with the Mini. Most of the people who disagree are the people who have spent a lot of money on an iPad 4 and want to justify the cost.
 

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,419
43,307
Worth is a subjective call, to me the small form factor is well worth the cost, so yeah its worth it, but ymmv depending on your needs and priorities.
 

TyPod

macrumors 68000
Nov 2, 2006
1,745
18
Minneapolis, MN
I have an iPhone 5 and an iPad Mini. Going back and forth between the iPhone and mini displays doesn't bother me one bit!
 

g0odfr1end102

macrumors 6502
Dec 5, 2010
434
13
Montreal, Canada
Yes!

7489004.jpg
 

Nychot

macrumors 6502a
Aug 15, 2011
790
71
I have one and don't like it. It's WAY overpriced and very delicate. Screen breaks easily.
 

TacticalDesire

macrumors 68020
Mar 19, 2012
2,286
23
Michigan
The screen feels slightly flimsy, colors reproduction is pretty poor (very washed out in my opinion) and of course it's not retina. Everything else in my opinion is fine aside from the 512mb of ram for web browsing.
 

LightOnAHill

macrumors regular
Jun 26, 2010
138
0
I have an iPhone 5, and using the two devices at the same time it's hard to notice without trying to see that the text n the phone is smoother.

The mini is a denser resolution than all my other devices except the iPhone 5 and 4 I've had, so it's a great display in my opinion and experience. My Mac air has 130-something pixels per inch and the ipad has 160-something so it's clearer than my laptop, which has a great-looking resolution.

I use the mini for lots of things I used to use the iPhone for, and find the size and keyboard and form factor to make the tasks easier and more fun to do. If you get the mini, you'll find that it was worth the money and you'll love it if you're like me.
 

takeshi74

macrumors 601
Feb 9, 2011
4,974
68
The Main issue I'm worried about is the non Retina Display. I absolultley love the size and design but I'm used to the iPhone5 Retina Display and not sure if I will like the non Retina one.

Can someone report about his experience?
Compare in person. Another person's experience isn't necessarily relevant to you. If the Mini was not universally worth it then no one would own one. Clearly, reality indicates that's not the case. Worth is always highly subjective, regardless of topic. No one can tell you if you'll like the display on the Mini or not.
 

jschu22

macrumors 6502
Apr 12, 2008
259
190
Is it worth it? %#&$ yeah it is! I found the non retina display doesn't bother me at all anymore since I've gotten rid of my iPad 3. The size, and this convenience, of the mini is just awesome and makes the device much more helpful to me and my daily needs.
 

Han Solo 1

macrumors 6502
Mar 12, 2013
495
11
I switched from the iPad 3 to the mini 12 days ago.

2 days ago I returned it and bought an iPad 4.

I couldn't get past the non retina. I really tried, but PDF reading and web browsing were just sub par. I know some people don't notice the difference in screen resolution, but I definitely did, and just couldn't get over it.

So is the mini worth it? Not for me.
 

richardmu

macrumors 6502a
Oct 10, 2007
582
32
Bristol, UK
Wouldn't bother. Not really worth the money. It's okay if you definitely need the Apple App Store and the smaller form factor.

I tried one and returned it and bought a Kindle Fire HD to tide me over until the mini 2.

I might even be tempted if refurbs become available at a good discount, which is probably some time away! Heard they have appeared in the US but only at a measly 6% discount.
 

firewood

macrumors G3
Jul 29, 2003
8,107
1,343
Silicon Valley
I have an iPad 3, a Kindle Fire, a Nexus 7, and an iPad Mini. I end up using the Mini over 90% of the time, even though I can see the bigger pixels. But the Retina iPad is clearly better for photo editing.
 

robeddie

Suspended
Jul 21, 2003
1,777
1,731
Atlanta
Yes it's worth it. I have an iPhone 5, iPad 4 and a iPad Mini. I use the Mini the most due to it's portability and weight. It's much easier to read on than the tiny iPhone 5 screen. Retina is not that big of a deal and not that much different even though there are so many people on this forum who think it's amazingly incredible (eyes rolling). You will most likely be very happy with the Mini. Most of the people who disagree are the people who have spent a lot of money on an iPad 4 and want to justify the cost.

I wonder about this myself. Confirmation bias.
I have an iPad mini and my iPhone 4S side by side and even with my glasses on (new prescription), am hard pressed to see this "pixelization" on the iPad that some claim to see.

Kind of reminds me of the people who spend $50 on the Monster HDMI cables from best buy and swear they can see the difference.
 

cardfan

macrumors 601
Mar 23, 2012
4,192
5,270
I wonder about this myself. Confirmation bias.
I have an iPad mini and my iPhone 4S side by side and even with my glasses on (new prescription), am hard pressed to see this "pixelization" on the iPad that some claim to see.

Kind of reminds me of the people who spend $50 on the Monster HDMI cables from best buy and swear they can see the difference.

I've read enough posts from people who can't seem to tell a difference between retina and nonretina. It really seems weird that people can't tell the difference easily.

I've always had 20/20 vision. Perhaps seeing blurry text is just so normal for those with less than perfect eyesight. No offense I hope. My hearing though isn't the best so I'm just as lost when it comes to people who complain about how something sounds.

I've had a Mini for a few weeks straight now and basically the problem is text being blurry. You can't quite focus on it. After awhile, it creates eyestrain as if you're wearing a pair of glasses meant for someone with vision problems.

Now the bigger the text, the lesser the problem. It's as if it's sharpening up or coming in focus. Viewing in landscape is better but still doesn't eliminate the problem.

The conflict here is that the Mini is a much more preferable form factor. When I considered just swapping it out for an ipad 4 yesterday, my 6yr old threw a fit. She loves the Mini. My wife thinks it's fine and doesn't see any problems (she wears contacts).

So yes, even after a couple of weeks, I still prefer reading sharp text on an iphone 5 over this. I'm still deciding if I want to swap the Mini for a bigger ipad or simply do without and wait. My daughter does love it but I'd get her a base model, not the 64gb LTE one i currently have. It does feel like I've spent way too much on something I don't enjoy using to read...
 
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