It seems so amusing that everyone is worried about the screen when it is higher DPI than the iPad was until "the new iPad" earlier THIS YEAR ... and the iPad 2 is still being sold, why is better than that now suddenly unacceptable?
The mini has made me interested in an iPad for the first time, and these pictures only increase that interest. A shame there is no 7.x" WinRT tablet .. and apart from anything else the surface ain't reaching NZ until next year if at all; gonna make the decision all the more a no-brainer, I do just want to see the mini in person first.
Also exciting: the mini charges off the 5 watt charger like the iPhone.
The iPad 2 was being sold as a 'discounted' product that had lower specs than the iPad 3.
I think some people hesitate to pay full boat for the iPad mini price knowing that a Retina version is coming at some point. Apple can't play promote the Retina feature for every product they've rolled out, then roll out a brand new device and act like not having it is not a big deal.