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iPad mini Bought an iPad Mini retina

S

shenfrey

macrumors 68030
Original poster
May 23, 2010
2,558
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Much prefer it to the full size iPad. I find myself taking it everywhere with me, it's much nicer to hold in the hands and because of its 4:3 screen, websites scale perfectly. I also find gaming to fit perfectly on the iPad Mini too.

What do you think to yours?
 
I went from having all full size iPads (1, 3, Air) to the rMini about two weeks ago. I rarely took my full size iPads anywhere eventhough they were LTE (3 and Air). I find that I take my rMini with me a lot. I also have a mount for it in my car to use for music and GPS.

Congratulations on your new rMini!
 
I'm a big fan of the iPad mini. I typically wear a sports jacket, and the mini slides perfectly into a typical sports jacket pocket. As a result it goes everywhere with me, and at the same time with its 7.9 inch screen and 4:3 aspect ratio works great for reading pdfs. I'm a teacher, and I sometimes end up holding it one hand while copying problems out of it onto a chalkboard with the other.
 
my iPad 4 rarely gets used now, i love my mini. I think once theres an update I'm getting a nice 32 or 64gb mini for school.
 
Enjoy your new ipad! I started out initially with an iPad Air but exchanged it for a retina Mini and have no regrets, it's definitely much nicer to hold!
 
Coming from the iPad 4th gen, I absolutely love the iPad Mini! Maybe it's just me, but the screen on the Air feels larger and more overwhelming than the last gen due to the smaller bezels. I scored a white 64gb cellular iPad Mini with Retina display off Craigslist for $500, but I find that 64gb is too small for me lol.
 
I actually ended up going the other way. Started with an rMini but exchanged it for an Air after about a week. I had owned an original mini and absolutely loved it. I did find myself zooming in on content quite a bit. However, the device was SO much lighter and comfortable to hold than my iPad 3 that I didn't care. I figured the zooming issue was due to the low res display and would be fixed by a retina version. So, the first day my local Apple store had stock, I reserved one for pickup. The display was amazing! But, I still found myself having to zoom in a lot. Even though small text was now sharp, the mini's smaller display made text too small for me to read comfortably (maybe I'm getting old?). So I tried an Air for a few days and was hooked. For its size, the Air is actually less dense than the rMini and I finally felt it was a full size iPad I could hold one handed for long periods of time. Couple that with the larger display and better color reproduction and I had my winner.

Both are fantastic devices and you can't go wrong with either one. Enjoy your new rMini!
 
MacDevil7334 said:
I actually ended up going the other way. Started with an rMini but exchanged it for an Air after about a week. I had owned an original mini and absolutely loved it. I did find myself zooming in on content quite a bit. However, the device was SO much lighter and comfortable to hold than my iPad 3 that I didn't care. I figured the zooming issue was due to the low res display and would be fixed by a retina version. So, the first day my local Apple store had stock, I reserved one for pickup. The display was amazing! But, I still found myself having to zoom in a lot. Even though small text was now sharp, the mini's smaller display made text too small for me to read comfortably (maybe I'm getting old?). So I tried an Air for a few days and was hooked. For its size, the Air is actually less dense than the rMini and I finally felt it was a full size iPad I could hold one handed for long periods of time. Couple that with the larger display and better color reproduction and I had my winner.

Both are fantastic devices and you can't go wrong with either one. Enjoy your new rMini!
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When I bought my wife the first Mini I had the 3rd gen (retina). I loved the size of the Mini, but the screen bothered me coming from a retina screen. I always said that if Apple put of the Mini with retina, I would get that one for my next iPad.

The day the Air came out, I went and tried it out in the store. I loved how much thinner and lighter it was and bought one that weekend.

I just switched to the rMini two weeks ago for a few reasons:

1. When I took my Air out of the house I usually kept it in a backpack, the rMini seems easier to carry on it's own.

2. I will be done with school soon, so I don't have much need for the larger screen.

3. I wanted to mount the rMini in my car, the Air would have been two big.

As you said, both are great devices, each with their own purpose. I have been happy with both.
 
I have both and much prefer the Air. Mini is easier to hold but after using the Air for a while the weight isn't noticeable and the colors on the Mini are just plain washed out compared to the Air. Mind you, if you never see the Air you won't think anything of the colors of the Mini at all.
 
nStyle said:
I have both and much prefer the Air. Mini is easier to hold but after using the Air for a while the weight isn't noticeable and the colors on the Mini are just plain washed out compared to the Air. Mind you, if you never see the Air you won't think anything of the colors of the Mini at all.
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Same here. At first the retina mini was the only consideration for me. The price and size made sense. But after trying it many times in different retail establishments and comparing it to the Air I put the retina mini down and bought an Air and never looked back. I already hate all the zooming on web pages using my iPhone. Thinking the retina mini would be better because it's bigger than my iPhone. Heck No. I was zooming every news article when trying the mini and that was in landscape mode.
For me the Air is the perfect sized tablet and the screen quality is much better than the retina mini. Besides I use my iPad for work and need to demonstrate to my clients and need a decent sized screen for that. Over the years I've just learned with Apple and several other companies, if you don't get their flagship/top of the line product they will cut corners and dupe consumers on their smaller more affordable products. I'm totally happy with my Air. :)
 
HenryDJP said:
Same here. At first the retina mini was the only consideration for me. The price and size made sense. But after trying it many times in different retail establishments and comparing it to the Air I put the retina mini down and bought an Air and never looked back. I already hate all the zooming on web pages using my iPhone. Thinking the retina mini would be better because it's bigger than my iPhone. Heck No. I was zooming every news article when trying the mini and that was in landscape mode.
For me the Air is the perfect sized tablet and the screen quality is much better than the retina mini. Besides I use my iPad for work and need to demonstrate to my clients and need a decent sized screen for that. Over the years I've just learned with Apple and several other companies, if you don't get their flagship/top of the line product they will cut corners and dupe consumers on their smaller more affordable products. I'm totally happy with my Air. :)
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Really? This is bull! The Mini has a higher pixel density than the Air. Same internals. Same everything. Just smaller. So the colours are a little different, so what! Such a broad and untrue comment...in an Apple forum.
 
Defender2010 said:
Really? This is bull! The Mini has a higher pixel density than the Air. Same internals. Same everything. Just smaller. So the colours are a little different, so what! Such a broad and untrue comment...in an Apple forum.
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Oh I see, so you reply with a knee-jerk reaction and call me a liar. Excellent. Keep telling yourself that. The mini's screen isn't as good as the Air's, period. You getting all defensive and calling me a liar is rude unnecessary. :rolleyes:
 
I originally bought the iPad Air. Loved everything about it, but the size. Exchanged it for the mini retina cellular and have no regrets. Love the portability and size. Easy to tote on the go.
 
I too traded my full size ipad 3 for a retina mini and couldn't be happier. The size is much more conducive to handling and typing one-handed, and when I'm watching TV/movie on a plane I don't feel like the whole row is watching the big screen.

I think this is the size that the iPad "should" have been all along, with the 10" version sold as a jumbo iPad.
 
dukeblue219 said:
I too traded my full size ipad 3 for a retina mini and couldn't be happier. The size is much more conducive to handling and typing one-handed, and when I'm watching TV/movie on a plane I don't feel like the whole row is watching the big screen.

I think this is the size that the iPad "should" have been all along, with the 10" version sold as a jumbo iPad.
Click to expand...

I feel exactly the same way, I think the full-sized iPad is too conspicuous. Also, the iPad mini app interface elements are the same size as iPhone app interface elements, and because of this the full-sized iPad seems to have a jumbo user interface.
 
shenfrey said:
Much prefer it to the full size iPad. I find myself taking it everywhere with me, it's much nicer to hold in the hands and because of its 4:3 screen, websites scale perfectly. I also find gaming to fit perfectly on the iPad Mini too.

What do you think to yours?
Click to expand...

It's definitely much easier to carry around. In fact, if you've got 34 size jeans or larger, you could carry it in your back pocket!
 
HenryDJP said:
Oh I see, so you reply with a knee-jerk reaction and call me a liar. Excellent. Keep telling yourself that. The mini's screen isn't as good as the Air's, period. You getting all defensive and calling me a liar is rude unnecessary. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I didn't call you a liar. It wasn't a knee jerk reaction. There's nothing "period" about your comment. A lot of people in this thread would probably agree with me. So the colour gamut is not as high as the Air, big deal. Apart from that there is no better or worse comments to make.
 
I have both and they are both great devices. I primarily use the Air at home. I'm older and it is easier to read the larger text. It's lightweight and the colors have better saturation. I prefer the larger screen real estate. However, I have rarely taken a full sized iPad out of the house because it is too large to carry conveniently. My rMini fits in my purse and goes everywhere with me. I have no problem with the screen size for reading books or short term web browsing and checking e-mail. The colors aren't as saturated but when the devices aren't side by side it is hardly noticeable and the screen looks great. If forced to pick one over the other I'm not sure which I would choose.
 
So I got my air this week after using a mini for 15 months. I tried taking the air out on my daily commute but it was too cumbersome. I haven't taken it out since. I've been using the Air at home and the mini on the go. I think it's the perfect combination.
 
I used to have an iPad 4, which I loved. But on a whim I decided to get the rMini this time around and it's awesome. I can slip it in my purse and not even know it's there. I'm almost thinking about getting the LTE version and just using that as my main communications device. One of my friends does this and I think it's very cool.
 
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