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belltree

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 17, 2008
395
60
Tokyo, Japan
My employer wants me to get an iPad for checking into work while on the go (email, work time inputting, etc) and at our customer site (laptops not allowed but IOS devices permitted). They are, of course, paying for it and said I can get the one I want.

I am tempted to get an iPad Air Pro but it do not want to push it as it is hard to justify the cost for what I will be doing. So having said that I am left with 2 choices:

1. iPad Mini 4

2. iPad Air 2

I will be getting a bluetooth keyboard case which ever way I go.

My concern with the Mini is will it be large enough to use for this kind of thing. My vision is fine perfect but will it cause fatigue after many hours of use?

In the case of the Air 2, would it be too bulky to carry back and forth to work each day and use on the train/bus/coffee shop at times? Appreciate any feedback or advice.

Keyboard/case wise, I am thinking either Belkin or a Logitech one.
 
Only you can answer this question. I find the Mini too small. But that's me. YMMV.

And I found the Air too big :)

No one can answer this question for you, go and try it out and see what you feel more comfortable with. I prefer the portability and small size of the iPad Mini and it goes with me almost anywhere, something I rarely did with my previous iPads (original, iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad Air...).
 
The only thing I'd say is if you're getting a Bluetooth keyboard you might hunch over a lot when using it (assuming you get a keyboard the same size as the iPad) I noticed my shoulders hurting for that reason back when I had my mini 2. I'd suggest the air as its better for split screen and the like - so you can reference one thing whilst emailing for example.
 
My employer wants me to get an iPad for checking into work while on the go (email, work time inputting, etc) and at our customer site (laptops not allowed but IOS devices permitted). They are, of course, paying for it and said I can get the one I want.

I am tempted to get an iPad Air Pro but it do not want to push it as it is hard to justify the cost for what I will be doing. So having said that I am left with 2 choices:

1. iPad Mini 4

2. iPad Air 2

I will be getting a bluetooth keyboard case which ever way I go.

My concern with the Mini is will it be large enough to use for this kind of thing. My vision is fine perfect but will it cause fatigue after many hours of use?

In the case of the Air 2, would it be too bulky to carry back and forth to work each day and use on the train/bus/coffee shop at times? Appreciate any feedback or advice.

Keyboard/case wise, I am thinking either Belkin or a Logitech one.

I had a similar question early last month, I was going from an iPad 4 and was looking at either a Mini 4 LTE 64GB or Air 2 LTE 16GB, in the end I decided to spend extra and get the Air 2 LTE 64GB.

The Mini 4 is a fantastic little tablet, but my issue was that it used an old SoC and the Display may be a little small for heavy usage.

The Air 2 is the perfect size, IMO, it's super lite and thin and the 9.7inch display is big enough to do heavier tasks, while the tablet is still compact overall.

I take my Air 2 to meetings, training sessions, use it as a SatNav when need it, use it to watch movies in-flight etc...

If you can, get yourself a Air 2 LTE 128GB.
 
I have a mini4 and an air2. The mini is great for portability. I put mine in my purse and don't even notice that I have it with me. I only use it for short term reading, surfing or e-mail however. I wouldn't want to do a lot of work on it because of the smaller screen and print size. Depending on the amount of work/time you will be spending on the device may help you decide whether function or portability is more important.
Sounds like the 9.7 iPad pro with pencil and keyboard case would be ideal for you.
 
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