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The iPad 4 is king of the hill. There's no way the iPad Mini will ever outspec the bigger 9.7" iPad.

$329 vs. $499

I'd prefer the $499 to be in front of competition rather than the $329 Mini.
 
This can't be said of the iPad Mini, though. The Mini is out-of-date, TODAY. Already it is bested by the Kindle Fire HD for display resolution, for $130 less. And in about 2 weeks, B&N will be releasing their Nook HD, which will totally blow it out of the water.
Not really. The iPad 3 you talk up as being ahead today has essentially the same hardware as the iPad mini. The iPad 2, which is still for sale, is still a high-performing tablet. This is an updated iPad 2 with lower power consumption, improved cameras, and a better display.

Other small tablets have it beat in the resolution department, but didn't they all claim that resolution wasn't everything when they were losing out to iPhones and iPads left and right?

What you're missing is that this is equal to or better than the iPad 2 in every measurable way...for $70 less. The parts cost savings in the smaller size are minimal--the new display is estimated to be roughly the same price. The smaller battery is a touch cheaper, and there's less case material, but that's it. Apple's already taking a lower margin on this than any other iPad. Value per dollar on this is just fine, as is its longevity. The iPhone 4S, iPad 2, and iPad 3 are still fine with plenty of life left in them. This hardware will easily perform as an entry-level product for the next year with no problems at all.

Actually, that is not correct. The PPI of the Nook HD+ is 243, for $250. That is better than the new MacBook Pro, which is 227. So if the Nook HD is not "retina", then neither are most of Apple's new "retina" Macs.
You fundamentally misunderstand what it means to be a retina-class display. The Nook HD+ is, but not because it's higher that the MacBook Pro. You're missing the distance component. Most HDTVs, even with sub-100 ppi, are also "retina" in typical living rooms.
Oh, and my cheap-ass Virgin Mobile Evo phone has a PPI of 256, which makes it "retina".
It's retina, but that's not why.
 
I think they missed the point of a 7inch tablet. They painted themselves into a corner with all the sales guff they talked about 7inch being DOA. They might have wanted to keep the same ratio for apps and to make it look like the ipad but they changed the iphone screen ratio with a different screen size so i don't see why they couldn't change it for ipad mini. I think their ego got in the way of sensible device decisions and they pooped out a fail.

Better luck next time :)

Serious answer here. They changed the ratio for the phone - and phone apps. The ratio for the tablet has not been changed. While you may not care about the developers and only care about your specs and retina, there really is a legit reason to keep things simple for developers; at least for awhile until more catch up with the ratio change of the phone apps.

Also, for every person who chooses the Nook, I'm sure 1000 others will choose iPad. People who like the Apple experience and actually use the apps aren't caught up in the specs.
 
In person it feels thin and light, more like an e-reader in utility.
Except the screen looks better than the cheaper readers, bright, vivid, with similar specs to an iPad 2 but in a smaller space.

It in no way appears or feels like the screen or anything else is a sacrifice.

The same way people felt the iPhone 5 was lighter than the 4s, the mini feels like they left something out compared to it's larger sibling.

If you honestly think a fire, nexus, or whatsis tablet is even a close competitor to any iPad there will be no reasoning with you.
And think is not the right word, if you are enamored with specs and ignore everything else that make a product a delight.

Second, might be nice for those with overly strong options to actually wait till they can use or purchase one before venting.

I expect there will be some happy campers by the end of the week with the same group of naysayers in tow.

Worst thing that could happen is that it winds up like the Lisa.
That would only make it a spring board to something better.
 
The iPad Mini is overpriced and underspec'd, but so is the iPod Touch. It isn't uncommon at all for Apple to put out a product that gets surpassed by a competitor in some respect.

I am thinking that Apple is depending on their superior design (really, I haven't heard anyone seriously complain about anything besides the screen, processor, and RAM). From everything I have seen, they are right to claim they are better than the Nexus 7, which I have.

Where I see the problem is with the form factor itself (a topic for another thread) and the price point. We'll just have to see what sales tell us about how well the general public responds.
 
With every Apple product that I can think of, the product has had 'legs'. Meaning that Apple put enough innovation into the hardware that the product would be ahead of the competition for many months, even years. The iPad 3, for example, is still ahead, more than nine months after it was introduced.

This can't be said of the iPad Mini, though. The Mini is out-of-date, TODAY. Already it is bested by the Kindle Fire HD for display resolution, for $130 less. And in about 2 weeks, B&N will be releasing their Nook HD, which will totally blow it out of the water. So if that is the situation today, what will the situation be like in six months, a year, or by the time Apple gets around to releasing a new Mini? Not pretty at all.

Apple is clearly resting on their laurels. This will be their undoing. I can't imagine Steve Jobs ever doing this.

Or Apple wanted to create a lower point of entry iPad for the general consumer and not hard core spec nerds like the ones haunting this website. The mini isn't for spec heads its for someone who wants a lighter, smaller iPad. If you want the top spec iPad get a 4th gen. Nobody is forcing a Mini on you.

"A Durrrrr" to everyone who keeps posting about the iPad specs.
 
The only 'legs' it needs are the ones that are carrying it out of the stores. Lets see what the sales numbers are before we blast it as a failure.

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Or Apple wanted to create a lower point of entry iPad for the general consumer and not hard core spec nerds like the ones haunting this website. The mini isn't for spec heads its for someone who wants a lighter, smaller iPad. If you want the top spec iPad get a 4th gen. Nobody is forcing a Mini on you.


The same could be said about the ipad in general. That's why it is locked down, why they don't approve of jailbreaking and will refuse service (per the terms of service that everyone agrees to when they buy the device, even if they never read the terms) and so on. It's not for spec wanking techie nerds. It's not a computer. It's a device with some computer functions like email. but that's all.

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Actually, that is not correct. The PPI of the Nook HD+ is 243, for $250. That is better than the new MacBook Pro, which is 227. So if the Nook HD is not "retina", then neither are most of Apple's new "retina" Macs.

maybe, maybe not. The math Apple uses to define the term takes the distance from the eye into consideration. A laptop is often further from the eye and thus a lower ppi could still be 'retina'

A Nook would likely be the same distance as an iPad, how does the PPI compare in that case.

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If this was about screen rez, the iPad 2 would have flopped.

It didn't.

So it isn't.

Try again.

Not really valid since that was the best screen folks had seen on the ipad, until the 3 came out. Now that folks have had 7 months to get used to the ipad 3 screen, it might matter that the Mini has taken a step back. Particularly to those that don't understand that there's no battery tech that would give the same daily life as the bigger iPads in a smaller form and proper that 'better' display. So the drop is a necessary evil at this time

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And for the love of all that's holy, PLEASE PEOPLE, stop with the "Steve would never let this happen" comments!

it doesn't matter if he would or wouldn't. He's dead and gone and Tim is running the company. So "What Would Tim Do" is the rule now. If they don't like it they can not buy. End of story.

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apple is following the other 7inch tablets lead and i think they made some big mistakes.

Yep they made a cheap bit of hardware with a ****** OS and barely any apps and are selling it at cost because they can make up the difference with their other sales like books and dvds or with ad sales. Just like the other companies do.
 
With every Apple product that I can think of, the product has had 'legs'. Meaning that Apple put enough innovation into the hardware that the product would be ahead of the competition for many months, even years. The iPad 3, for example, is still ahead, more than nine months after it was introduced.

This can't be said of the iPad Mini, though. The Mini is out-of-date, TODAY. Already it is bested by the Kindle Fire HD for display resolution, for $130 less. And in about 2 weeks, B&N will be releasing their Nook HD, which will totally blow it out of the water. So if that is the situation today, what will the situation be like in six months, a year, or by the time Apple gets around to releasing a new Mini? Not pretty at all.

Apple is clearly resting on their laurels. This will be their undoing. I can't imagine Steve Jobs ever doing this.

And you are clearly writing a post without a shred of backing data. Hey guys and gals. There's some nice features of these boards. You can provide links! You can provide pictures! You can reference an infinitum of substantiating data.

Instead we opinion presented as fact sans any supporting evidence. We're just supposed to read the blathering of someone that doesn't have the common courtesy or wherewith-all to provide any links.

In essence you've tried ...but you've wasted our times. You wanna do Op-Ed create a blog so we can more easily ignore it.
 
With every Apple product that I can think of, the product has had 'legs'. Meaning that Apple put enough innovation into the hardware that the product would be ahead of the competition for many months, even years. The iPad 3, for example, is still ahead, more than nine months after it was introduced.

This can't be said of the iPad Mini, though. The Mini is out-of-date, TODAY. Already it is bested by the Kindle Fire HD for display resolution, for $130 less. And in about 2 weeks, B&N will be releasing their Nook HD, which will totally blow it out of the water. So if that is the situation today, what will the situation be like in six months, a year, or by the time Apple gets around to releasing a new Mini? Not pretty at all.

Apple is clearly resting on their laurels. This will be their undoing. I can't imagine Steve Jobs ever doing this.

Apparently the public seems to think otherwise. Apple is now sold out of "launch day" iPad minis on their website.
 
the real innovation will be the sales innovation when analysts ask

"how the heck did they sell so many?"
 
These were kind of my thoughts when the iPod Mini came out. Remember the iPod mini? It was just a little smaller, HD was a lot smaller, and costs were comparable to the iPad & iPad mini today. It didn't make sense to me until I held one in my hand. It truly was about the size. It was only nominally smaller, but damn that size made difference.

I think iPad mini definitely hit the nail on the head as far as size, weight. Mini is just an iterations of it's full size, I don't know why people were looking at it like it was supposed to be some tablet killer.
 
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