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All iPads For those of you who are still wondering to get a Mini or Air...

Cool Pup

Cool Pup

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 18, 2010
724
116
Dallas, TX
Go with the Mini.

I recently held an Air and, while very light and nice, is still what I'd call unwieldy. Not feasible for one-handed use in most situations and for extended periods.

All of the night I was wondering and worried about which iPad to get, and upon browsing with the Air for a bit, I've realized that if you are in doubt, it's best to just go with the Mini.

If you have no doubts at all then the Air is perfect for you, but seriously, if you have any doubts at all just ask yourself this question: If Apple had the Air and Mini out on the same day, which one would you get?

Starting a thread on this because the question comes up too often and this solution is just the best one.
 
Okay since you have actually held one how does the Air compare to ipad 3 and 4 especially holding with one hand. Is there a noticeable difference in size as well as weight?
 
kwajkat said:
Okay since you have actually held one how does the Air compare to ipad 3 and 4 especially holding with one hand. Is there a noticeable difference in size as well as weight?
Click to expand...

Weight? Oh yeah. It's not even the same. Totally different feel, it's really impressive with that.

The size is still particularly bulky, but that's mostly because I use the Mini daily. If you are used to the full size iPad as your regular one you'll be amazed at how thinner it is in your hand. This should be the iPad for any people who love the full size one.

It's still pretty tall, though. You could get by with it navigating or reading lying down for a while, but your wrist will still get tired or sore if you use one hand for an extended period of time. Two handed resting this wouldn't be a problem at all.

One handed use is more possible on the Air, but I still can't see it as a regular thing, the screen size is just too large ergonomically.
 
Thanks.
I have the ipad 4 and did have the mini. Don't use the ipad 4 one handed just too heavy and I found the mini to be a nice size but heavy for holding in one hand for reading even with a case with the hand strap. Case with hand strap is a must for me
 
I'm still rolling with the Air. Size is more unwieldily, sure, but that gap has shrunk significantly. And if the 4oz difference proves to be more than I anticipate, I'll go back to the gym. Or, I'll get the Kindle Fire, which is 4oz lighter than the mini. Wait, no. I'd rather hit the gym! :D
 
kwajkat said:
I have the ipad 4 and did have the mini. Don't use the ipad 4 one handed just too heavy and I found the mini to be a nice size but heavy for holding in one hand for reading even with a case with the hand strap. Case with hand strap is a must for me
Click to expand...
The case with handstrap is probably bringing up the weight of the Mini up to iPad Air territory or maybe even higher. :p I plan on getting a sleeve case for the Mini for lugging around and just using it sans case. :)
 
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Yeah, I almost ordered an Air just to have it early but that's stupid so I'm waiting. I played with the space gray iPad Mini (old but new color) at the Apple Store last weekend while getting my iPhone 5 with broken sleep button swapped. That weight and size is really appealing. It would fit in many of my jacket pockets which is great for going to meetings across campus. My biggest issue now is deciding on whether to get 32 or 64GB and/or LTE. This iPad is going to be temporary for me as I'm sharing it with my wife (yet again) while I'm waiting for the next iPad with more ram to come out, be it an iPad Pro or just a normal successor. So I'd only be using the LTE for a year or less, and my wife wouldn't really use that. And my wife really doesn't need anything over 32GB in the long-run, but I need something over 32GB right now. Money isn't really tight but a baby is on the way so we're trying to save where possible and it's only $8/mo to add the iPad to my Verizon share plan. So I might split the difference and get 64GB without LTE and just tether off my iPhone 5 when I need to? That might be the best compromise of price and features. Next year I'm going to max it out with 128GB and LTE. Hopefully next year they will start out at 32GB so I'll save $100.
 
It's actually personal preference. You need to hold both.

You cannot say the mini is better, the AIR feels very different to iPad 4, people really need to hold it to see what Apple has accomplished here.
 
Agree, personal preference.

What I always wanted was the screen size of the regular iPad, but slimmed down to Mini style. That is the Air.

My wifey prefers the Mini but I ordered another Air for her just in case she changes her mind.
 
I think what the OP means is that those whose preference is for the Mini, will not be completely happy with the Air as a substitute

Which probably is the case, as there are a lot of Mini lovers who are snatching up Airs because they don't want to wait, as waiting blows
 
Dammit. Was certain I wanted mini retina. But now reading these posts about the screen being a bit small, preferring the Air screen real estate, I am undecided now.
 
My Air is going back - I have a Mini and the Air is just too big and unwieldy by comparison. The fact that it's narrower actually makes it feel heavier somehow.

Mini Retina all the way for me. For bigger stuff, I use a Macbook Air which is more useful than the iPad AIR for what I need.
 
I had the Mini for the past year and still love the size but wanted a bigger screen. The air works for me quite well because it is smaller and lighter than previous full size iPads. Still not sure if I want to sell the Mini or give it away to a family member but it will be loved wherever it goes...
 
Jesus what a crap post. Each to their own, it's called choice, do we really need so many pixels and bandwidth wasted on such arguments.

Please get a grip, we'll if you have big enough hands you can, around the Air...:p
 
I have my old mini next to my new Air in my hands.

The new Air seems HUGE. Especially coming from a mini for the past x months.

The Air IS very thin and light. No doubt. But coming from the mini it seems a bit unwieldy. I'll use it for a few days before I decide to keep it. Or not.
 
i walked into the sprint store to see the Air and im definitely waiting, and every dumb consumer urge i had to get it NOW NOW NOW went away.

its pretty cool and definitely easy to hold in one hand... until you need the home button or to swipe from the other side. definitely waiting for the mini retina
 
The air is awesome. Can't put it down its light super fast small frame best iPad yet and I have owned them all. Wouldn't think about a mini over this

----------
Dlanod said:
My Air is going back - I have a Mini and the Air is just too big and unwieldy by comparison. The fact that it's narrower actually makes it feel heavier somehow.

Mini Retina all the way for me. For bigger stuff, I use a Macbook Air which is more useful than the iPad AIR for what I need.
Click to expand...

Your insane
 
Despite saying for the last year I was going to get an 8" tablet, I bought the ipad Air today lol. I wanted lighter weight and easier to hold, but in the end I didn't want to give up the screen size of the full size ipad.

Definitely smaller and lighter than our ipad 3, but the Air is kind of in no mans land so to speak: it's not big and bulky like previous ipads, but it's not small enough to hold easily like the Mini. I think if I had bigger hands and longer fingers I could easily hold it one handed though.

I love the Air so far and have no regrets on the purchase, especially since I bought it at Sam's Club and they gave me $40 off the price of the Air for upgrading my Sam's Club credit card, plus 0% interest for 18 months. So it came out to $455 +tax for the Air with zero interest.

On a side note, I bought it at 10:30am today. I asked the guy working in electronics how many they had sold so far today and he said "you are the very first person to buy one". I was shocked.
 
I disagree. I had a mini and I find the Air very easy to hold, almost like a slightly larger mini. I think it's very good for 1 hand use and a full size tablet is good for those who use tablets a lot. I'm sure the retina mini will be great but I wouldn't be so fast to dismiss the Air.
 
I had the ipad 1, and now the 3.

My daughter bought a mini, and after trying it out I like the overall size and giving serious thought to a retina mini.

I game on the 3, you all with minis, how is the gaming experience?
 
I had been coveting a mini with retina for the longest time, but after reading some reviews and giving it more thought, I ordered an Air today. My reasons:

1) I want to use my iPad for work sometimes (lawyer), and the mini just seemed too small for reading PDFs and Word docs.

2) I want the option to get a keyboard case sometime down the line and use my iPad as a light travel laptop. The mini is just too small to accommodate a functional keyboard.

3) I prefer the larger screen size for plain web browsing in landscape. Non-mobile pages look crunched on the mini.

4) I think the slimmer and lighter form really will make a difference over the old full-size iPads. It's not a trivial upgrade.

Part of me would still like something that I can easily read standing on the train, but the full-size version just seemed like the best way to get the most out of my investment. Hoping I don't regret it.
 
No reason why you can't buy a mini 6 months down the road and own both. I had a mini and an iPad 3. Why not? Got the air and gave me kids my older devices.
 
I have to say, the Air looks very very tempting! I love my iPad 4, but I'm going to have to think long and hard about upgrading. Literally the only complaint I have about my iPad 4 is that it's just too heavy sometimes.
 
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