Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPad mini Apple is Brilliant
- Thread starter mikef07
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I have my work phone tethered to my iPad, which works okay I guess. If anything, the limitation is sprints network in this case.
This is a serious question:
How do you justify the additional cost? What are the benefits that make it worth it? I have never had an iPad with wireless data, how different/better is it compared to tethering?
I don't know you just don't have to worry about tethering the device in order to connect to the internet. I mean other then that there is no advantage you are consuming data from the same source regardless. Just in one case you need the phone to tether and in the other you don't. Kills your phone's battery life. In the end it's only $10 dollars which you can use that additional line to buy a subsidized phone and just switch back to the tablet.
That's it right there... I haven't had any issue or problem with tethering because I tether off of my work phone... Which maybe gets one or two calls outside of office hours a week, so I have never had to care about its battery life.
If I only had my personal phone... then I would probably rethink how I handled data for my iPad.
Alright buddy I was just making a justification that some people might make. No need to keep referencing your own situation.
I know, I was agreeing with you. I wasn't trying to be sarcastic or anything. That is a big factor I overlooked.
Sorry if it sounded that way, it is always hard to convey tone properly in text. I was just trying to say that is why I did not think about killing the phones battery.
I mean $30 difference from the $299 price tag everyone was expecting. I really hope nobody was expecting the iPad Mini to be $199 because no, it would never be that little.
If they sold it for $199 that thing would be sold out for years. Granted that is going to happen anyway.
Same here. My brother recently figured out there are better quality movie resolutions. Been watching it in DVD quality while I have BluRay. He doesn't care about retina and neither do I. Portability is key.
I think you are confusing us for the rest of the world. Try $30 with AT&T.
Perhaps you mean the biggest rip-off on the planet known as "shared plans", where a mere 1 gig costs $40. Moreover, you have to pay for the privilege to share this gig.
I'm talking about Verizon and on my verizon shared plan I pay 30 bucks for 2 gigs of shared data. Only a rip off if you have one line. And again it would only be $10 on a tablet, regardless of how many gigs of data I subscribe to.
No, I didn't expect $199...I thought $299 was maybe, hopefully possible...and at the theoretical price of $299 the Mini would have sounded alot more attractive (to me personally), but at the actual price of $326, its pretty much a non-starter...yes, theoretically only a $30 difference between a Mini that doesn't exist and the one that does...but in reality, an $80...soon to be, a $130 price difference between a non-theoretical Nexus 7 and iPad Mini...
Nexus 7 is fine it you plan to mostly do browsing and e-mail. Most of the other apps are just scaled phone apps and do not use the 7 inch properly at all. Wheras almost all iPad apps were made especially for tablets. It's just no contest at all, especially as the mini is both smaller (weight) and bigger (screen) than the Nexus 7.
I understand your point regarding up-scaled phone app vs tablet-optimized apps...and I can most certainly understand the concern/point with regard to apps with intensive user interfaces...but what about simple apps...or games like Angry Bird or Temple Run for example? Does Angry Bird really need or benefit from tablet optimization? Serious question...
Last edited:
Well I misspoke. After going into the Apple Store today I simply could not pass on the mini. Size and weight is just too good to pass up. The screen was bigger than I thought it would be.
I also must be blind because I could not really tell the difference in the Retina screen and the normal screen. I have an ipad 1 and I never thought the screen was bad so I don't get all the complaining about non retina screens.
I also must be blind because I could not really tell the difference in the Retina screen and the normal screen. I have an ipad 1 and I never thought the screen was bad so I don't get all the complaining about non retina screens.
I really want an iPad Mini, but because it's slower than the iPad 3 and lacks the retina display, I can't bring myself to buy it. The smaller/lighter iPad Mini is way more comfortable to use, imo. Apple screwed up to rush it to market so they could enter the ~7 inch tablet fight.
How long do you think your kid will keep the tablet? They are 9-11 now but in two years, they are 11 to 13 and they will need something more than just watching movie. They may actually need the tablet to work on their school work (doing research etc.). If movie, email etc is what they will do, Nexus 7 or Amzn fire HD may do....
I agree that I enjoy FaceTime, however there is something called Skype that the business world tends to use as well as the majority of people that don't use Apple products. I don't like Skype if I can use FT, however Skype is the default for most of the world.
I don't doubt that for the business world, but the world that matters most (at least for our immediate family) is a world of about 6-10 people, all of whom have Apple products, thus the need for Facetime.
You make it sound like FaceTime is the only webcam app available. It isn't a matter of iOS vs Android. The rest of the non-Apple world uses Skype. Simple as that. If your little world only uses Apple products good for you. But the rest of the world is much larger than that.
Again where did you possibly see me say that anybody and everybody uses Facetime. I simply pointed out that we use Facetime almost exclusively and you proceeded to tell me that Skype exists also and is used by others.
If I tell you that I prefer Ice Cream flavor X are you going to tell me that the rest of the world likes flavor Y so I should get Y?
Really? I had an iPad 3 and just sold it after I realized how much i loved my mini iPad. Im doing what works for me and I don't owe you any justifications for my decisions. For some portability and usability is more important than spec whoring. Use what works for you and stop with the personal insults.
The geek bench scores tell another story. The mini is more performant than the iPad 3.
I just saw the engadget review (http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/30/apple-ipad-mini-review/) and yeah, that's true... the mini scores higher than the iPad 3 since it doesn't have to power a retina screen.
