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All iPads Love My Air! Mini vs. Air - Think Twice

N

nostresshere

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Dec 30, 2010
2,730
341
Just got my new Ipad Air. Amazing tablet! Speed - whew!

Okay, I came from an Ipad-First Gen. I have spent a little time with my grandaughters mini and sort of liked it and considered it just a little, but really wanted to extra screen size.

Now that I have the Air, it feels like a slightly larger mini. One hand seems to work. Only had it for an hour, but so far I am amazed.

One of the apps that was a bit slow, but usable on the Ipad-1 was NEXT ISSUE. This downloads magazines. With the Air - everything comes up almost instant. No testing, but the wifi seems much faster as well.

I am amazed.
 
nostresshere said:
Just got my new Ipad Air. Amazing tablet! Speed - whew!

Okay, I came from an Ipad-First Gen. I have spent a little time with my grandaughters mini and sort of liked it and considered it just a little, but really wanted to extra screen size.

Now that I have the Air, it feels like a slightly larger mini. One hand seems to work. Only had it for an hour, but so far I am amazed.

One of the apps that was a bit slow, but usable on the Ipad-1 was NEXT ISSUE. This downloads magazines. With the Air - everything comes up almost instant. No testing, but the wifi seems much faster as well.

I am amazed.
Click to expand...

I am glad you are enjoying it. I think it is great and do not mind its size and weight being use to the Mini. Time will tell how others feel but I say at least give it a go for those folks on the fence.
 
I just came from the apple store where I wanted to be "wowed" by the iPad Air. I currently have a "the new iPad with Retina" which is I guess the 3rd generation.

It's still iOS7.

Its lighter, but its the same thing - the same icons, the same animations, when I open an app, it opens. The music sounds the same, the websites I pull up look the same.

I question whether it's going to be as durable as my The New iPad with Retina Display.

I didn't buy it. I still want it but I can't bring myself to dropping the ~$800 just for a thinner case and lighter weight. Speed differences might be there, but we're really talking in milliseconds, and that's not worth it to me.

I'm sad.
 
I have an Air but thinking of returning it. It's a bit awkward to use compared to the Mini I have.

I have a MacBook Air for bigger stuff at home and the Mini is best for portability. So I think I'll go for the Mini retina.
 
Dlanod said:
I have an Air but thinking of returning it. It's a bit awkward to use compared to the Mini I have.

I have a MacBook Air for bigger stuff at home and the Mini is best for portability. So I think I'll go for the Mini retina.
Click to expand...

Can you please take a few photos of your current mini vs. the air? A photo I particuly am looking for is the mini over (on top) the air. Really trying to compare sceens.
 
nostresshere said:
Just got my new Ipad Air. Amazing tablet! Speed - whew!

Okay, I came from an Ipad-First Gen. I have spent a little time with my grandaughters mini and sort of liked it and considered it just a little, but really wanted to extra screen size.

Now that I have the Air, it feels like a slightly larger mini. One hand seems to work. Only had it for an hour, but so far I am amazed.

One of the apps that was a bit slow, but usable on the Ipad-1 was NEXT ISSUE. This downloads magazines. With the Air - everything comes up almost instant. No testing, but the wifi seems much faster as well.

I am amazed.
Click to expand...

Keep your receipt. Once you see the retina mini for $100 cheaper and read the reviews you may have a change of mind; most of you will have a change of mind.
 
I was missing the bigger screen on the previous iPads so Im thrilled. I may still get a mini in addition to my air but I dont feel as compelled to now.
 
cdmoore74 said:
Keep your receipt. Once you see the retina mini for $100 cheaper and read the reviews you may have a change of mind; most of you will have a change of mind.
Click to expand...

Sorry I have my own mind and want the bigger screen. I won't be exchanging mine for a mini.
 
Rogifan said:
Sorry I have my own mind and want the bigger screen. I won't be exchanging mine for a mini.
Click to expand...

I agree. I had the iPad mini for a year and loved it, but found the text and software elements on screen to be just a bit too small since it's running at the same resolution but on a smaller sized screen. The iPad Air resolves that issue for me and yet is now almost as small & light as the mini is. The Air is the best of both worlds for me anyway.
 
Lancetx said:
I agree. I had the iPad mini for a year and loved it, but found the text and software elements on screen to be just a bit too small since it's running at the same resolution but on a smaller sized screen. The iPad Air resolves that issue for me and yet is now almost as small & light as the mini is. The Air is the best of both worlds for me anyway.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I need the larger screen AND the lighter weight.
 
Lancetx said:
I agree. I had the iPad mini for a year and loved it, but found the text and software elements on screen to be just a bit too small since it's running at the same resolution but on a smaller sized screen. The iPad Air resolves that issue for me and yet is now almost as small & light as the mini is. The Air is the best of both worlds for me anyway.
Click to expand...

getting mine for comics and that is really the issue with the mini, no optimization on the apps , they are apps designed for the larger ipad just shrunk down, so test and areas to tap are sometimes out of whack
 
randymac88 said:
I just came from the apple store where I wanted to be "wowed" by the iPad Air. I currently have a "the new iPad with Retina" which is I guess the 3rd generation.

It's still iOS7.

Its lighter, but its the same thing - the same icons, the same animations, when I open an app, it opens. The music sounds the same, the websites I pull up look the same.

I question whether it's going to be as durable as my The New iPad with Retina Display.

I didn't buy it. I still want it but I can't bring myself to dropping the ~$800 just for a thinner case and lighter weight. Speed differences might be there, but we're really talking in milliseconds, and that's not worth it to me.

I'm sad.
Click to expand...

Sell your other iPad
 
That pick does say it all. The screen really is not that much different but the length of the Air is very Microsoft Surfacy long which is tough to look at. I prefer the more squareness of my ipad 3.

But also why i'm getting the mini retina
 
Steviejobz said:
That pick does say it all. The screen really is not that much different but the length of the Air is very Microsoft Surfacy long which is tough to look at. I prefer the more squareness of my ipad 3.

But also why i'm getting the mini retina
Click to expand...

A slight distraction at first but noticeable though. Nothing now as I continue to us it to tell the truth.
 
Steviejobz said:
That pick does say it all. The screen really is not that much different but the length of the Air is very Microsoft Surfacy long which is tough to look at. I prefer the more squareness of my ipad 3.

But also why i'm getting the mini retina
Click to expand...

I started a thread saying I wished they'd shaved a few mm from the top and bottom of the Air as I thought it looked too tall. Unfortunately that was met with questionable responses.

Now having the Air in hand, I stand by my opinion.
 
MrGimper said:
I started a thread saying I wished they'd shaved a few mm from the top and bottom of the Air as I thought it looked too tall. Unfortunately that was met with questionable responses.

Now having the Air in hand, I stand by my opinion.
Click to expand...

Yeah I agree. I only held it briefly but the height threw me off right away. Perhaps it makes watching certain videos better in landscape but I'm usually always in portrait and it was a little distracting.
 
I had an IP1, then got the mini, and just got the air. So this is my first experience with a retina display of this size. It is simply stunning, however I have noticed that only about half of the apps I have installed are optimized for it. They ranged from horrible (Jetpack Joyride), to jaggy/fuzzy (Yggdrasil), to not bad, but actually not as good as the mini (World of Goo). I have only installed a dozen or so and some of them are really great (Pandemic the board game comes to mind). Hopefully more than half of my 300+ apps are going to be fully optimized, or I will consider this somewhat of a disappointment. It gives me a reason to keep the mini around if nothing else.
 
cdmoore74 said:
Keep your receipt. Once you see the retina mini for $100 cheaper and read the reviews you may have a change of mind; most of you will have a change of mind.
Click to expand...

LOL

Not everybody cares that much about price, and I know that I want a bigger screen since I've used an iPad Mini many times and thought the screen was too small.
 
I sold my mini to get the Air sight unseen. I am not regretting it. Although its heavier than the Mini I can comfortable hold the Air with one hand for a while. I needed to give my content room to breathe and the Air does that.

The Making of Star Wars iBook looks fabulous on the Air.
 
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