iPad mini Community's Impression With iPad Mini

[Badrottie]

iPad mini is nice and very light but I don't think I will enjoy watching Netflix with 7.9 screen. I am happy with full size iPad.

 

[davideotape]

Had it for only a few hours but first impressions:
- size is perfect for carrying around all the time. The iPad does feel too big for carrying after using this thing for as much as an hour. My retina iPad 4 is either getting returned or relegated to heavy processor tasks like video processing and retina display tasks like photo editing, comic book reading, etc.
- it's very speedy for basic functions. No lag time. I haven't tried the more demanding tasks and programs yet.
- display: eeeehhhhhhh. I can very easily see people who are used to retina being salty. This things not perfect, and really the display is the only reason I've found so far to say that.
- I'm already "all-in" on the apple ecosystem so having everything in my life sync'd up and being able to carry this thing around is a huge plus. I would never carry around the iPad 4 all the time due to device cost/safety/size/feeling stupid whipping it out In a coffee shop. Despite being still kinda costly, this thing seems ok for all of that.
- iOS flexibility overall for entertainment: with this I can have my kindle/nook/amazon video and music apps and not have to make a decision- if a movies cheaper on amazon or a books cheaper on the nook I can actually shop and not be dismayed by being stuck to one brand like I would the nook HD or kindle fire HD

All in all I like it. I'm an apple dork though so take this for what it's worth.

More thoughts on the second day:
The more I use this thing the less I care about the retina display. My eyes have adjusted and while I understand the retina looks incredible and this pales in comparison, I don't really care because its so much easier to hold and use. I can pick it up with one hand, it fits in my winter coat pocket, I can also slide it into a side pocket of my bag, i can hold it with one hand sitting down and in bed,etc. would I have wanted a retina more? Of course. Would I have paid $200ish more for it? Nah. Well... tbh maybe if it was my only ipad. I'll likely find out next year.

- while i can pick it up and hold it with one hand, I definitely still need 2 hands to use this thing no matter what really: even to turn pages on books and magazines. Not sure what I was expecting but I guess I thought I could flip through a book with one hand like a kindle e-reader

- video looks solid on this thing.

- safari and comics are the only times I miss retina. I downloaded perfect browser so hopefully that takes care of the browser, but as a casual comic reader I love how the books "pop" on the retina while this just simply tells the story.

- digging into this and trying to learn more about the device has allowed me to accidentally discover some cool productivity apps like grafio and syncspace. Excited to use those a bit more.

 

[sparks9]

I have to complement the mini on the speakers! Really great considering the thin form factor.

 

[MonkeySee....]

Just saw the iPad mini in store. The over reaction from people saying the screen is terrible is absolutely laughable. The screen is great. I honestly can't believe the fuss over it.

 

[AppleRobert]

Just saw the iPad mini in store. The over reaction from people saying the screen is terrible is absolutely laughable. The screen is great. I honestly can't believe the fuss over it.

They should just look at other 7" tablets at Best Buy who has the biggest selection. In portrait mode with better specs, see what they think about web pages with those tablets without zooming. Text is just as fuzzy and squashed even more. The bigger real estate on the Mini to view web pages definitely helps.

And they better tell me which one was better. I looked at all they had. Nothing was any better regardless of specs.

 

[whoRichard]

I think the reason for the "overreaction" is because people are so accustomed to the "retina" now anything even a hair "worse" will be "probable cause" for commotion. I honestly think the screen is great, one can only believe how great it'll look when the retina is used on the iPad Mini. I believe that's when more people will be switching from iPad>iPad Mini.

 

[AppleRobert]

I think the reason for the "overreaction" is because people are so accustomed to the "retina" now anything even a hair "worse" will be "probable cause" for commotion. I honestly think the screen is great, one can only believe how great it'll look when the retina is used on the iPad Mini. I believe that's when more people will be switching from iPad>iPad Mini.

One gets a pretty reasonable price per se and I feel many jumped in just because of that for the Mini and they wanted the Apple ecosystem for a lesser cost.

Others already owning the iPad3, some decided the size and weight were worth it over the display and the same for some perspective buyers of the iPad4.

I think choosing the Mini over the 3 and 4 speaks volumes IMHO. Guess you know who was wrong about ever marketing a smaller tablet because we see the interest. We will eventually see the sales numbers so time will tell overall.