iPad mini iPad mini experience

[Chupa Chupa]

The display is lovely. Bright, crisp and clear.

You do realize that is not possible because after Apple announced last week it was going to move away from Samsung the Forum Know-It-All Association proclaimed Apple products would have horrible screens going forward. So obviously you are hallucinating.

 

[Aneres11]

You do realize that is not possible because after Apple announced last week it was going to move away from Samsung the Forum Know-It-All Association proclaimed Apple products would have horrible screens going forward. So obviously you are hallucinating.

Lol I know I must be seeing things in my minute of excitement... <rolls eyes>.

No but I've been using this thing now for about 2 hours. It really is fantastic. It's the weight and size that I'm enjoying most!

 

[AJsAWiz]

Lol I know I must be seeing things in my minute of excitement... <rolls eyes>.

No but I've been using this thing now for about 2 hours. It really is fantastic. It's the weight and size that I'm enjoying most!

I'll bet! Can't wait to get mine

----------

That's kinda the point of the iPad MINI... Smaller screen. If you want a bigger screen, they can take your money for that, too. But it's a different product.

Clint

Yep, it's all a matter of choice and Apple has provided many. I'm ditching the iPad 2 I'm typing on right now for the smaller Mini. Don't get me wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed my iPad 2 but now I can choose smaller and lighter.

----------

As long as I can read ebooks and websites with my +1 glasses and without zooming inn all the time, I think I can cope with the nonRetina...

I hear ya. I wear glasses but don't anticipate any visual problems moving down in screen size. With glasses on, I don't have a problem seeing anything

 

[k3ith]

The iPad mini is the iPad fully realized! After holding this thing, the non-retina display becomes a non-issue.

I imagine a lot of casual consumers are going to be feeling love at first sight.

 

[black743]

What Size?

How did you guys handle the size? I have a 64gb iPad 3, but I'm not sure I want or need all that space for a mini.

Are you guys mainly using the mini for generalized things, as opposed to watching movies, etc? Most of my iPad is movies and tv. I'm trying to determine if 16gb will be fine with me and mainly use apps and web surfing.

Thoughts?

 

[AJsAWiz]

So far I love it, got the black 16gb(dont need any more very light user). Weight is great and the size just feels right. Easier for me to type on than my 3rd gen iPad wich I will be selling. It feels just as fast as it. The screen is okey, nothing fantastic.

That's nice to know. I don't foresee any typing problems with the Mini because I'm used to typing on my iPhone 4S without difficulty.

----------

How did you guys handle the size? I have a 64gb iPad 3, but I'm not sure I want or need all that space for a mini.

Are you guys mainly using the mini for generalized things, as opposed to watching movies, etc? Most of my iPad is movies and tv. I'm trying to determine if 16gb will be fine with me and mainly use apps and web surfing.

Thoughts?

Well I have an iPad 32 gb have just about filled it up
So, I'm going with the 64 gb iPadMini. You would be the best judge of your "spacing" needs. If you have lots of available space on your 64 gb, perhaps downsizing would work. Don't know about going form a 64 gb to 16 gb. That's quite a leap. Anyway, Evaluate your needs and go from there.

 

[mattopotamus]

How did you guys handle the size? I have a 64gb iPad 3, but I'm not sure I want or need all that space for a mini.

Are you guys mainly using the mini for generalized things, as opposed to watching movies, etc? Most of my iPad is movies and tv. I'm trying to determine if 16gb will be fine with me and mainly use apps and web surfing.

Thoughts?

If your movies and tv come from itunes, just use apple's in the cloud and don't actually store them on your ipad. Download them locally on your computer so you do not lose them, but just stream them on the ipad. I always buy stuff on my apple tv, so they automatically stay in "apple's cloud" and all of my devices can watch them as long as apple retains the rights.

 

[catalyst6]

rolled up to apple store at about 8am sharp. Looks like there were maybe twenty people in front of me + those in the store already. I waited in line for about 3 minutes.

Only white model they had in stock was 64gb! They sold thru them in the first 20 people. Disappointing, so walked away with 16gb black. Looks like Apple has next to zero white models in the supply chain.

Saw a couple hundred black models sitting on the back shelf

 

[Akash.B]

Love the mini so far. Although the screen isn't retina, the colors and brightness are amazing! Just as fast as the iPad 3, but so much lighter and more beautiful!

 

[AJsAWiz]

Love the mini so far. Although the screen isn't retina, the colors and brightness are amazing! Just as fast as the iPad 3, but so much lighter and more beautiful!

Sounds great! Enjoy

 

[8a22a]

1st impression, absolutely gorgeous.

 

[black743]

That's nice to know. I don't foresee any typing problems with the Mini because I'm used to typing on my iPhone 4S without difficulty.

----------



Well I have an iPad 32 gb have just about filled it up
So, I'm going with the 64 gb iPadMini. You would be the best judge of your "spacing" needs. If you have lots of available space on your 64 gb, perhaps downsizing would work. Don't know about going form a 64 gb to 16 gb. That's quite a leap. Anyway, Evaluate your needs and go from there.

I'm almost seeing this as a light weight "grab and go" alternative. What I find is that the ipad 3 becomes a bit heavy if I'm holding it in bed or whatever....when an iPad mini may be perfect for those applications. If I don't include my movies, then I am not really using a ton of space.

I sorta see this as a scaled back ipad, when you need to browse the web or something like that but don't have to grab the larger one. Plus I was thinking of the black, just because it looks cool....so perhaps a black 16gb to just use as connsumption...web, facebook, etc...

 

[pvmacguy]

Snip... I saw it in an Apple store today and wouldn't be able to live with the non-retina display.

You wouldn't be able to live?? How have you been living before the retina display? I'm surprised you haven't ended your life already by all these horrible screen out there.

Seriously though the amount of drama about the mini's screen astonishes me.

I eagerly await mine.....

 

[Böhme417]

I love the size, weight, and the overall feel of the device in hand. However, using it next to my phone, the screen is noticeably not as sharp (duh). It's most noticeable looking at the time and edges of icons. Reading text isn't too bad.

Also, when touching the screen, there is a hollow feel to it. It feels like the screen depresses a little when pressed, and it kind of just feels and sounds like hollow plastic. (My iPad 2 doesn't feel like this.)

Cosmetically, as far as QC, my home button is off-center, and there are three nicks in the metal along the bottom of the device.

 

[Poochi]

You wouldn't be able to live?? How have you been living before the retina display? I'm surprised you haven't ended your life already by all these horrible screen out there.

Seriously though the amount of drama about the mini's screen astonishes me.

I eagerly await mine.....

I think people who make it sound so bad are the ones who have decided to not give it a chance or haven't seen and touched the actual product.

 

[thelookingglass]

You wouldn't be able to live?? How have you been living before the retina display? I'm surprised you haven't ended your life already by all these horrible screen out there.

Seriously though the amount of drama about the mini's screen astonishes me.

I eagerly await mine.....

How I was living before the retina display is irrelevant. How were you living before the iPhone? How about the internet? Computers in general? The point is that as you get used to particular functionality, it's hard to take a step back. And it's incontrovertible that for someone with two retina devices at home, the iPad mini's screen is a step back. That's NOT to say the screen is bad. It's not. It's an excellent screen, but it's just not retina. And I'm used to reading a lot on my retina devices, where the font looks extremely crisp and no pixels are discernible.

This isn't "drama", it's called having preferences that aren't the same as yours. I think the mini is a fine device and I'm almost certainly going to pick up next year's version.

 

[AJsAWiz]

You wouldn't be able to live?? How have you been living before the retina display? I'm surprised you haven't ended your life already by all these horrible screen out there.

Seriously though the amount of drama about the mini's screen astonishes me.

I eagerly await mine.....

Thanks for the laugh. I chuckled out loud as I read your post, while waiting on the brown bus to bring my iPad Mini

 

[MRU]

Just finished restoring my 64gb model from my ipad backup.

Ordered mine from Apple on pre-order day but that order was still showing as ships in two weeks with a deliver of 15th november, by chance the local apple reseller got one 64gb wifi black in (said he got very few black model period) and so he held it for me this morning as those who has pre-booked with him had looked for 16gb mostly (which again he got very limited stock).


So impressions...

Yes the screen is noticeably non retina, there is no getting away from it.
But it is indeed better than the original ipad and ipad 2.

The weight and feel of the device is fantastic. Prefer it already.

As for speed and performance, there is little difference with ipad 3 starting applications and such. I opened a couple of applications side by side with my ipad 3 and couldn't spot any real difference (milliseconds).

Now to memory test because of the 512mb...

Safari, no checker-boarding yay!

1) im loading up MacRumors and started this post.. Before finishing I select all and copy just in case...

2) Then opened new tab and opened The Verge & another with Engadget and no checkerboarding once both pages finished loading.

3) Loaded an new article in Engadget and the verge pages

4) Back to macrumors page/tab to update this post and YAY it didn't reload, so the 512mb I was worried about seems to be not too an issue after all.


So far delighted.

I'm going to give my iPad 3 to a relative as a christmas present. The iPad mini for me and my usage is the perfect size and weight with minimal sacrifices that had to be done as 1) no 2048x1536 7.9" screens exist, 2) the A5X or A6X in this device would require more power = thicker device, heavier and a lot less battery life.

So the trade off, for the moment until technology catches up is worth it for me.

Couldn't get a nice smart cover today as they had not arrived in the store though. So will have to source a smart-cover elsewhere.

Edit update....

Typing on this in portrait mode is much better I find too.

 

[WilliamLondon]

I love mine, I got the 32GB Black. Used to have an iPad gen 1, but it was always just too big, I've got a Kindle which I love and have been wanting a smaller tablet that I can take around more easily with me that reads PDFs. I was rather disappointed when they announced the iPad mini in that I really wanted a high resolution screen as the programme I'm studying at school is all about reading PDFs (lots and lots), and I wanted a 7" tablet (for easy holding and reading) that displayed PDFs well. I wasn't sure the iPad mini with its resolution would display PDFs well, but I'm thrilled to report that it's fantastic. I loaded up several PDFs which I normally have to print out (I hate reading them on my laptop or desktop), and I could make out all the text, it's clear and easy to read.

The device is solid, you feel like you're holding something of quality, but not too heavy or large. The colour is great, and the smart cover fits perfectly. I also bought a soft padded case that will fit the mini with smart cover, plus stylus. It seems quick and responsive, much better than I remember the iPad gen 1, and I didn't have any real complaints about that device at the time, so this one just seems better and perfect sized. That's not to say I'll not be eager to see a gen 2 get a nice resolution bump, but for now I couldn't be happier!

 

[zhenya]

Went into BB this morning to get hands-on before opening my 4 that will be delivered today.

It's definitely a nice device; the weight and proportions are excellent. Black is sexy. Love having the screen come right to the edges - it makes the screen feel larger than it is. Seemed reasonably fast, but I am coming from a iPad 1 - I was able to load 4 pages or so, leave, open a bunch of other programs, came back to the browser, all pages were still loaded.

The screen is good to very good, but as all the review said, noticeably not retina. Honestly, as much as I want a retina screen, I could live with that if it had more RAM and/or an A6 processor. As it is, I'm afraid of repeating my iPad 1 experience where after ~ 1 year it is noticeably slow and after 2 years it is no longer being updated. While I love the look and feel, the overall upgrade that is the iPad 4 is too compelling; it is just going to be a much more useful device for me over time.

The thing is, Apple would have made the same money on me either way; I ordered the 32gig iPad 4, I probably would have sprung for the 64gig mini...

 

[leonw]

Just finished restoring my 64gb model from my ipad backup.

Ordered mine from Apple on pre-order day but that order was still showing as ships in two weeks with a deliver of 15th november, by chance the local apple reseller got one 64gb wifi black in (said he got very few black model period) and so he held it for me this morning as those who has pre-booked with him had looked for 16gb mostly (which again he got very limited stock).


So impressions...

Yes the screen is noticeably non retina, there is no getting away from it.
But it is indeed better than the original ipad and ipad 2.

The weight and feel of the device is fantastic. Prefer it already.

As for speed and performance, there is little difference with ipad 3 starting applications and such. I opened a couple of applications side by side with my ipad 3 and couldn't spot any real difference (milliseconds).

Now to memory test because of the 512mb...

Safari, no checker-boarding yay!

1) im loading up MacRumors and started this post.. Before finishing I select all and copy just in case...

2) Then opened new tab and opened The Verge & another with Engadget and no checkerboarding once both pages finished loading.

3) Loaded an new article in Engadget and the verge pages

4) Back to macrumors page/tab to update this post and YAY it didn't reload, so the 512mb I was worried about seems to be not too an issue after all.


So far delighted.

I'm going to give my iPad 3 to a relative as a christmas present. The iPad mini for me and my usage is the perfect size and weight with minimal sacrifices that had to be done as 1) no 2048x1536 7.9" screens exist, 2) the A5X or A6X in this device would require more power = thicker device, heavier and a lot less battery life.

So the trade off, for the moment until technology catches up is worth it for me.

Couldn't get a nice smart cover today as they had not arrived in the store though. So will have to source a smart-cover elsewhere.

Edit update....

Typing on this in portrait mode is much better I find too.

Thanks a lot! Espescially your quick 512 mb RAM sort of first impression test. That is ( was...) my main concern.
This is great news. The readers of this thread will be delighted...
(At least I am). In case you experience any RAM trouble later on, please update.

 

[MRU]

In case you experience any RAM trouble later on, please update.

Will do. Will have more time to experiment later

 

[leonw]

Will do. Will have more time to experiment later

Sure, sure! Enjoy!

 

[AJsAWiz]

Ups

just dropped of my 64 gb black iPad Mini and all I can say is Wow! Wow! Wow! This thing is incredible! This was absolutely the best choice for me. LOVE the size, weight, screen . . . . everything! Could be my imagination but this thing seems "zippier" than my iPad 2 even though it has the same processor. The gray alpaca blend sleeve I crocheted for it fits perfectly. I looked at the measurements before hand and made the sleeve 8" X 6". I hope everyone is having half the fun I'm having with this today

 

[Techwriter]

Will do. Will have more time to experiment later

Very informative post. Thank you for taking the time to let us know how the mini performs. I probably won't receive my black 64gb wifi mini until 5:00 or later. UPS is usually late on my block, so it's good having some initial feedback from early testers.