Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPad mini iPad mini experience

The iPad mini is really tiny with beautiful build quality. I don't think the lack of retina display is a big deal. The screen is very nice as it is. I think the lack of retina is an excuse to not buy, not a reason for most people.

I can't get over how beautiful and light this thing is. Use it for a while then pickup an iPad 3 and it's amazing how heavy it feels in comparison.
 
Super happy with my purchase. Got a black 16gb. I have no issues with the screen. I would be willing to sacrifice some pixels (compared to the nexus or fire) for having all my apps usable to day I open the box.

The design is superb. I played with a nexus 7 a couple months ago, toying with the idea of getting one, and the mini blows it away. The price is worth it.
 
bcaslis said:
The iPad mini is really tiny with beautiful build quality. I don't think the lack of retina display is a big deal. The screen is very nice as it is. I think the lack of retina is an excuse to not buy, not a reason for most people.

I can't get over how beautiful and light this thing is. Use it for a while then pickup an iPad 3 and it's amazing how heavy it feels in comparison.
Click to expand...

Thats how I feel when I use my work phone (4S) compared to my iPhone 5... it feels like a brick.
 
Jimbo Asprilla said:
I've had mine little over an hour and I absolutely love it, I sold my iPad 2 32gb with wifi for $390 yesterday, I've just finished restoring from that backup.

The size is ideal for me, it's so much lighter and so much easier to handle, the build quality is everything I expected form Apple, it's just superb.

My only negative is the screen resolution, to my eyes the screen resolution seems worse than my iPad 2, I'm sure we can all presume that the next version of the iPad mini will be with a retina display, then it will be absolutely perfect.

I am really impressed with it as a device and switching from my iPad 2 feels like a great move.
Click to expand...
Worse than iPad 2 ? We must not have the same iPad 2 then. iPad mini feels really an upgrade for me.
 
I am extremely happy with my iPad mini regardless of what people say about the screen I think it looks great why I'm not going to miss my iPad 3 at all.
 
I don't understand. Why does it make you laugh? What word should we use?

cardinalryan said:
Every person that refers to the screen as "retina" shows just what a sucker for marketing terms they are.

I honestly can't control my laughter when I see people use the word as if it's some sort of magic potion that is splashed on the screen before shipment.

I bought the Mini this morning and I'm very impressed.
Click to expand...
 
Böhme417 said:
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.)
Click to expand...
I have the same feeling - the touch screen has a hollow plasticy feel and sound too it. I was searching the web to see if the mini uses glass or plastic.
 
I bought an iPad mini today sight unseen from Best Buy as I'm going on travel tomorrow and thought it would be fantastic to take with. However, as nice as the screen is, I feel its too much of a downgrade for me from the iPad 3 that I currently have.

The iPad mini size and speed is fantastic, but I read too much on the iPad to give up the crisp retina display. I might still take it on the trip just to see how it performs, but ultimately I think it's going back.

EDIT: If the next revision has an IGZO display like the iPhone then I'm 100% in. I don't want the device any thinner, but my iPhone 5 display is gorgeous! I'd also like to be able to swap to all lightning connector devices sooner vs. later so I don't have to worry about 2 cords.
 
Last edited:
My wife's Mini just arrived at my office this morning. I need the power, screen size, and retina display of my iPad 3 so I'm not switching. But I do really admire this product, and in a way I wish I could own both.

What is amazing about the mini to me is that, compared to the iPad, you can hold this and type on it like an iPhone, but you get the benefits of iPad apps and a much larger display.

My wife currently has an iPad 2 which I bought her last year, but the only thing she used it for is watching Netflix movies. Otherwise, to my dismay, she stuck with her iPhone for Facebook, iMessage, Words with Friends, web browsing, etc. Now I'm the kind of person that always uses my iPad over my iPhone when I can, because it's better in every respect. But not her.

But holding the Mini today, I get it now. My wife's preferred way of using an iOS device is to kick back - lay on the couch or whatever - and use the device one-handed. You can't do that with a 10" iPad. You have to sit upright and prop the device on your lap and type on it like a laptop. Any other way of typing on it gets tiresome quickly. Plus when you head out, you really need to think about whether it's worth lugging the big iPad with you, even if you have a purse.

I think my wife will love the Mini because it solves all that. You can lay on the couch, hold it in portrait, and type with two thumbs. It's light, so it won't tire your hands. And if you are a woman you can just toss it in your purse and have it with you all the time.

Looking forward to seeing how she actually reacts to this. But I know shes psyched.
 
Frankied22 said:
Is anyone else with a Mini noticing quite a bit of sluggishness in the app store and iTunes?
Click to expand...

i actually have this issue with my iphone 5.... i assumed everyone did..

with that i dont think its the mini..:)

ive ordered a 32gb white 3g and reading this thread is driving me insane waiting :)
 
Only thing I wish they did differently in the ipad mini was to be able to use retina iphone apps in a 960x640 window and not use the old 480x320 window and 2x it pixelated. People wished for this in the ipad1/2 and got it in the ipad3/4 and was hoping since this was a new product as well they would do it.

Just got to wait for a jailbreak I guess.
 
The size and weight are perfect. The screen does look good however, not $329 good.

If it had a Retina screen, I would have bought it. As it is, I offered the Apple rep $270 and she just gave me a funny look.
 
zhenya said:
No, but it's the same sort of thing as going from a dumb phone to a smart phone, from a platter drive to a SSD, or from SD TV to HDTV. We lived with the old tech because that's all there was. It's not surprising people don't want to go backwards.
Click to expand...

Was the old ipad mini Retina then :rolleyes:
 
redman042 said:
My wife's Mini just arrived at my office this morning. I need the power, screen size, and retina display of my iPad 3 so I'm not switching. But I do really admire this product, and in a way I wish I could own both.

What is amazing about the mini to me is that, compared to the iPad, you can hold this and type on it like an iPhone, but you get the benefits of iPad apps and a much larger display.

My wife currently has an iPad 2 which I bought her last year, but the only thing she used it for is watching Netflix movies. Otherwise, to my dismay, she stuck with her iPhone for Facebook, iMessage, Words with Friends, web browsing, etc. Now I'm the kind of person that always uses my iPad over my iPhone when I can, because it's better in every respect. But not her.

But holding the Mini today, I get it now. My wife's preferred way of using an iOS device is to kick back - lay on the couch or whatever - and use the device one-handed. You can't do that with a 10" iPad. You have to sit upright and prop the device on your lap and type on it like a laptop. Any other way of typing on it gets tiresome quickly. Plus when you head out, you really need to think about whether it's worth lugging the big iPad with you, even if you have a purse.

I think my wife will love the Mini because it solves all that. You can lay on the couch, hold it in portrait, and type with two thumbs. It's light, so it won't tire your hands. And if you are a woman you can just toss it in your purse and have it with you all the time.

Looking forward to seeing how she actually reacts to this. But I know shes psyched.
Click to expand...

She's lucky--I think you're right, she will love it. That is how I felt when I briefly had an iPad 3. A lot of the times I just wanted to browse something really quickly in bed and I found myself grabbing the iPhone instead because it was simply easier. Lighter. the mini is at a great weight. I find the screen disappointing myself, but I don't really want to go back to an iPad 3/4's size either. I'll figure it out within the next week or so, I guess.
 
Love it

Had a a pad 2-loved it
Had a 3-loved it
Mini was delivered and i just set it up- love it

Screen looks better than 2 but i will take the mini over my 3 for just the weight
Only problem i had was case crown trifold case i bought does not put it into sleep mode.

But this mini is great ,3 is down the road as good as my air mac display
And if the fanboys or idroids do not like it- don't buy
Alot better than girlfriends nexus 7
I do not think you can get as good of battery life,size and weight if this thing goes retina-love it.
But if apple doescit down the road -i sell this and get it
I am not going to sit in a fanboy pout and complain it should have this,should have that-I AM GOING TO ENJOY IT
 
seajewel said:
She's lucky--I think you're right, she will love it. That is how I felt when I briefly had an iPad 3. A lot of the times I just wanted to browse something really quickly in bed and I found myself grabbing the iPhone instead because it was simply easier. Lighter. the mini is at a great weight. I find the screen disappointing myself, but I don't really want to go back to an iPad 3/4's size either. I'll figure it out within the next week or so, I guess.
Click to expand...

Plus since she is coming from an iPad 2 she will have no big expectations regarding pixel density. It's clear that there's a strong division of opinions about the screen here on MacRumors that pretty much equates to those who have been spoiled by the retina display and those who have not.
 
So here's my 2 cents:

The screen is not anything like iPhones, iPads. Where those feel like a solid piece of glass. This screen I noticed right away, isn't glass it's more plastic. But it still looks and acts great.

The lighting cable that I got in the box is currently stuck in my 10ft USB adapte. I thought to myself this is crazy! I made sure my hands were dry:nothing. I didn't want to pull with my hands to rip it. So I pulled with my teeth: nothing. So I took out the pilers: this thing is STUCK!!

So I called apple, told them what I told you and they are sending me out the "correct" lightning cable and a USB extension cable.

I told them I couldn't go anywhere due hurricane sandy messing everything up. I have power, but every gas station is backed up for miles. And the closest apple store is very far from me. The rep wanted me to send back the infused cable for testing but he said due to circumstances from sandy, I can keep the infused cable. So now I have a 10ft + lightning cable :D
 
WRXface said:
So here's my 2 cents:

The screen is not anything like iPhones, iPads. Where those feel like a solid piece of glass. This screen I noticed right away, isn't glass it's more plastic. But it still looks and acts great.
Click to expand...

Huh? It's absolutely glass. Go to iFixit and look at the teardown.

It's probably a very thin piece of glass for weight reasons, and unlike the large iPads it has a tad bit more give (very slight) but it's still glass.
 
bcaslis said:
The iPad mini is really tiny with beautiful build quality. I don't think the lack of retina display is a big deal. The screen is very nice as it is. I think the lack of retina is an excuse to not buy, not a reason for most people.
Click to expand...

An 'excuse' is all people really need to not buy an ipad. It doesn't need to be upgraded to a reason.
 
sagnier said:
An 'excuse' is all people really need to not buy an ipad. It doesn't need to be upgraded to a reason.
Click to expand...

What I mean is that people are whining about the lack of retina like it's a fatal flaw. I have both the iPhone 5 and iPad 3 and the mini screen looks fine to me. It's fine for someone to not want a mini, but comments on this forum about the screen being "terrible" are ridiculous.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back