Kindle just died, plus I need PDFs... It'd be dump to buy a Mini 1, right?

[IrishVixen]

Maybe I'm the only one, but I've owned both the Mini and the Mini 2, and part of the reason I got rid of that size in favor of the Air 2 is that PDFs are way less than optimal on the smaller screen. If I were in a situation where reading PDFs was a primary function for my device, there's no way I'd buy a Mini. The retina screen didn't make nearly as much difference as simply going up to the larger size screen.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the smaller form factor for its pockatability. But I hated trying to read PDFs on the Mini 2. (Kindle books are fine on it, because it's easy to scale reflowable text up or down.) If I needed an iPad for PDFs and budget was a concern, I'd look for a used Air or Air 2 instead.

 

[gobikerider]

Maybe I'm the only one, but I've owned both the Mini and the Mini 2, and part of the reason I got rid of that size in favor of the Air 2 is that PDFs are way less than optimal on the smaller screen. If I were in a situation where reading PDFs was a primary fuction for my device, there's no way I'd buy a Mini. The retina screen didn't make nearly as much difference as simply going up to the larger size screen.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the smaller form factor for its pockatability. But I hated trying to read PDFs on the Mini 2. (Kindle books are fine on it, because it's easy to scale reflowable text up or down.) If I needed an iPad for PDFs and budget was a concern, I'd look for a used Air or Air 2 instead.

Agreed

 

[masotime]

If the concern is not having to constantly zoom in and out due to the smaller screen size, then your best option is the 12.9" iPad Pro, which pretty much requires zero resizing of almost any PDF due to how close it is to US Letter / A4 sizes.

Pair it with something like Moshi's Versacover and you can rest it on the table in portrait mode for the ultimate reading experience.

 

[RickTaylor]

I originally bough the mini specifically for the purpose of reading PDF's. For me, it has been nearly perfect for that purpose. Yes the screen is a little small, but having a device with my library that can fit in my suit jacket pocket is worht it.

On the other hand, for some people the mini is just too small for comfortably reading PDF's, and the Air works much better. I even read one person who thought the Air was too small, and who preferred the 12.9 Pro.

The point is, this is an entirely subjective; some people prefer one, some the other. The best thing to do is to try them both out, come out to your own conclusions, and don't worry about what I or anyone else thinks.

 

[rGiskard]

Ugh, don't buy a low res iPad Mini for reading, it's just hideous for text. Get a Mini 2 with the higher pixel density for reading.

Calibre Companion will soon be out for iOS. That's why I finally bought a Mini 4. Too bad Apple don't have the coding skills to make iBooks as good as Calibre. Or maybe they're just lazy or afraid to enable users to organize ebooks not purchased from Apple.

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I originally bough the mini specifically for the purpose of reading PDF's. For me, it has been nearly perfect for that purpose. Yes the screen is a little small, but having a device with my library that can fit in my suit jacket pocket is worht it.

On the other hand, for some people the mini is just too small for comfortably reading PDF's, and the Air works much better. I even read one person who thought the Air was too small, and who preferred the 12.9 Pro.

The point is, this is an entirely subjective; some people prefer one, some the other. The best thing to do is to try them both out, come out to your own conclusions, and don't worry about what I or anyone else thinks.

Yeah it depends on the PDF content. For a schematics and blueprints or other technical drawings a larger iPad will be the better choice. I use my Mini 4 for some PDFs like that but mostly I only use it for reading ebooks and text-heavy PDFs, so it rocks for my needs - with the caveat that it needs far more than 2GB RAM for intensive use.

 

[Channan]

I think a lot of people here are confusing OP's needs with their own.

 

[Les Kern]

Not a bad price. Get it and try. I have no real issues with my Mini 1. If you don't like it sell it.

 

[Mike B in ok]

I'd suggest best and most cost-effective for your purpose is an 8 or 9 inch Fire HD. In my experience, any 7 inch is just gonna be too small to read PDFs on for any length of time. An argument against my idea is if you truly were happy reading PDFs on a Kindle Keyboard. If you were really okay with this, a 7 inch screen will do, but I still think you'd like the bigger screen better!

 

[Channan]

I'd suggest best and most cost-effective for your purpose is an 8 or 9 inch Fire HD. In my experience, any 7 inch is just gonna be too small to read PDFs on for any length of time. An argument against my idea is if you truly were happy reading PDFs on a Kindle Keyboard. If you were really okay with this, a 7 inch screen will do, but I still think you'd like the bigger screen better!

The iPad mini is 7.9", only 0.1" smaller than an 8" Kindle Fire, but it also has a wider screen in portrait so PDFs would be much easier to read on an iPad mini.

 

[ericwn]

On iOS I use Safari most of the time, but also have Firefox. FF seems to be less efficient with ad blocking, while Safari has a plugin for that. On my Mac it's usually Safari that's used.

 

[CEmajr]

If you can get it for $80 then it's not a bad deal. Otherwise I'd look on Swappa or something for a Mini 2 for around $150.