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iPad mini Love my rMini!

F

FiremanMike

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 26, 2011
263
9
What about a positive thread in here for once?!

Last year when I got my mini, I realized that this was the size iPads should have been all along. When the retina mini came out this year, I swore I wasn't going to buy it. I was perfectly happy with my mini and told myself I wouldn't now to consumerism for once.... Then I went and looked at the retina mini in the store, and I fell in love with how gorgeous the screen was. Truthfully, the screen is amazing.

So alas, apple got me again. I sold my mini and bought this retina and couldn't be happier. Not only is the screen crisp and much easier on the eyes but the increased speed is very noticeable.
 
FiremanMike said:
What about a positive thread in here for once?!

Last year when I got my mini, I realized that this was the size iPads should have been all along. When the retina mini came out this year, I swore I wasn't going to buy it. I was perfectly happy with my mini and told myself I wouldn't now to consumerism for once.... Then I went and looked at the retina mini in the store, and I fell in love with how gorgeous the screen was. Truthfully, the screen is amazing.

So alas, apple got me again. I sold my mini and bought this retina and couldn't be happier. Not only is the screen crisp and much easier on the eyes but the increased speed is very noticeable.
Click to expand...

8" is the perfect size for tablets.
 
its an awesome device. not perfect ...but despite me looking at all of the competition, I have determined that this is the cream of the crop if you like the 8" form factor.

super quick and best eco system around
 
Perfect for someone might not be the case for someone else.

Also, perfect for some usage might not be perfect for some else.

It sure takes some hands on time to figure out. Even then , you have to choose and make compromise
 
I've owned an iPad 1, iPad 2, and iPad 3 but since the first mini I haven't picked up a regular iPad and have no desire to. The rMini is it for me.
 
I also traded in my first gen Mini for the rMini and not regretting it one bit. I've had four iPads throughout the years and this one is definitely my favorite.
 
Just got my Rmini Saturday and I think this is the best iPad I have ever owned (I had iPad 1,2,3 and 1st gen mini) wanted the mini for its 8inch size and 4:3 aspect to me is what a tablet should be.
The screen on the Rmini is awesome (don't seem to have issues that some others are seeing) and the speed is so much faster makes it a joy to use. Yes it's not 100% perfect, but it's close enough that I don't think there's a better tablet for my uses right now. So yes I love my iPad mini retina. Great job apple!
 
peteo said:
Just got my Rmini Saturday and I think this is the best iPad I have ever owned (I had iPad 1,2,3 and 1st gen mini) wanted the mini for its 8inch size and 4:3 aspect to me is what a tablet should be.
The screen on the Rmini is awesome (don't seem to have issues that some others are seeing) and the speed is so much faster makes it a joy to use. Yes it's not 100% perfect, but it's close enough that I don't think there's a better tablet for my uses right now. So yes I love my iPad mini retina. Great job apple!
Click to expand...

4:3 screen is the key for me as well.. 4:3 looks just so natural for me for web browsing and book reading... 16:9 is good for wathing movies, but it just awkward to hold and use
 
In general I prefer the full size but rarely does it leave the house. I just got the rMini and love it! It fits right in my purse and goes everywhere.
 
Walked into work yesterday morning and saw my xmas bonus check sitting on my desk. It's was quite a bit larger than i anticipated, so i am going to buy my 64gb mini retina this week. CANNOT wait.
 
I never saw the point of the original iPads. It seemed to me they were big enough to require a bag or a brief case to carry around, and so if I was going to do that, why wouldn't I just carry a laptop?

Then the original mini came out, and I thought it was great. I'd realized laptops aren't so nice for reading books, and I was looking for something to read pdf's on (at the time I was printing them out). And the mini was, for me, the perfect size: just barely small enough to slip into a jacket pocket, yet still big enough to read pdfs on comfortably. The form factor was just wonderful, so thin and light, it felt right holding it in my hand. I quickly moved a large number of books to the device; these days I don't buy a physical book if I can get it in electronic form. And of course I found other uses for the device, gps, web browsing and email when on the go, taking notes, and keeping important documents at hand. The lack of a retina screen was disappointing, but for me it was worth the sacrifice; besides, it was still higher resolution than the typical computer screen I was used to.

And now I have the retina mini, and I think it's just fantastic; it has the portability of the original mini but with a beautiful screen. Yes, I understand it's not as good as the Air, but I'm no graphic artist and use the device primarily for tasks involving text; to me the mini screen looks gorgeous. It's crystal clear and bright and pleasant to look at; the white tones look nice to me. The original mini was already fast enough for everything I wanted, but the newer device is even faster.

No device is perfect of course. The occasional crashes in Safari are annoying and it would be nice to have better speakers (that's a much bigger issue for me than the gamut). But I'm just blown away I'm able to carry a device like this in my pocket. Perhaps it's because I'm older, and remember when the Palm Pilot was such a neat device; I just think it's incredible what we can use today.
 
aixporter said:
Loved the rMini until found out about the color gamut. What a disappointment.
Click to expand...

Yes, same, but sadly will have to look past it for now. Just cross your fingers hoping that Apple doesnt release a new mini in 3 months like they did with 1pad 3 and 4. Id be super pissed!
 
Love rick Taylor's point. I remember the newton and how it sucked and am amazed at the change twenty yrs brings.

I personally feel the retina mini can't be improved. Even if they are able to remove the top and bottom bezel, they shouldn't. Need sumthin to hold it by.

But my ipad 4's color is more vivid than the mini. Still the mini display and graphics are beautiful. Esp in such a small light package. I'm in no financial shape at all to do it but I will keep my rmini and ipad 4 both. I'll try to view it as acceptable so long as I vow to use each for the next three yrs at least and they look like they will last much longer than that
 
Spent another lunch comparing Air and rMini at the store, side by side with the same photos on each screen. Have to admit both have merits. Actually reminded me of the Kodachrome/Velvia comparisons of the past. Liked the vivid nature if the Air, but liking the size of the rMini a lot . . .
(Currently have a 3) Fun to have such great choices!
 
...

Too hasty with my no more iPads sentiments recently - I was bummed about the Air speakers/WiFi issues. I looked at the competition and simply cannot justify replacing hundreds of $ of movies/tv shows/magazines to fit into their ecosystem.

I miss the Mini form factor and will give a retina Mini a go. As long as the speakers aren't tin can sounding like the Airs, I can deal with everything else.

I wasn't bothered by the color gamut or RAM last year when I had the original Mini (it was reading on the mini which was the deal breaker for me.) I need to ignore certain threads and just go by my own impressions.

It's good to see folks are enjoying the rMini, I hope to join you.

(note to self: never be so darn final because I never am when I say I will be. :roll eyes:)
 
FiremanMike said:
What about a positive thread in here for once?!

Last year when I got my mini, I realized that this was the size iPads should have been all along. When the retina mini came out this year, I swore I wasn't going to buy it. I was perfectly happy with my mini and told myself I wouldn't now to consumerism for once.... Then I went and looked at the retina mini in the store, and I fell in love with how gorgeous the screen was. Truthfully, the screen is amazing.

So alas, apple got me again. I sold my mini and bought this retina and couldn't be happier. Not only is the screen crisp and much easier on the eyes but the increased speed is very noticeable.
Click to expand...
Congrats Mike, keep the positivity coming!
 
I have the R Mini 128 gig and a Nexus 7 32 gig, so I have the best of the Apple and Android worlds. The biggest weakness of the iPad Mini is the sound. Having the speakers so that they are both on one side when in landscape mode, which is the preferred way to watch videos or play games is really poor design. The weak output just makes it that much worse. The iPhone suffers the same problem. That makes the Nexus 7 the one I reach for when there's app that involves sound. It has great immersive stereo separation and is nice and loud even at only 50% volume.
On the software side, the iPad/iPhone wins when it comes to a smooth consistent interface, and there are a number of apps and magazines which are exclusive to Apple devices. The reading experience is better on the iPad because of the smoothness of the interface in apps like iBooks, and magazines are a lot snappier. A good way to see the difference is to load up the same issue of Time Magazine or National Geographic on both devices. The iPad provides a far superior reading experience and the large storage capacity means that a large library can be kept on the device.
 
Love my rMini!

I sold my original iPad to buy the 128GB Verizon iPad Air. I loved it and with the Speck folio case the speaker sound was redirected toward the front which made the sound a little better. The size difference between the iPad 1 and Air was tremendous. Everything was perfect. Then the Retina mini was released. I owned the Air for 2 weeks until I returned it for the rMini. My 2 weeks for the mini ran out yesterday and I still own it. I tried to convince myself for two weeks that the Air was better for the price even though it was $100 more. I struggled until 8:30 last night to bring it back to the Apple store, but I didn't.

I read about the image retention and gamut issue and unless you are specifically looking for it, it doesn't affect the usability in everyday situations. In fact, unless you are looking at them side by side I wouldn't even notice the gamut difference. It's there, but not enough of factor for me. The IR is only visible when you put the checkerboard pattern on the screen for 5 minutes. Yes, that's there too, but not enough of a factor for me either. I quickly switched between web pages, apps, etc, and not once did IR affect my experience.

I think the size and increased PPI outweigh these issues for me. Reading on it is fine. Pulse and Flipboard work great. I use it with the Apple leather case and it is very portable and slim. Once I put the case on the Air it became slightly too big and heavy compared to a cased mini. I will buy the Speck Folio case for the rMini when they finally put the magnets back in for the screen. The speaker sound redirection at the bottom really makes a difference.

Sorry this is so long. Maybe I'm just trying the convince myself that I made the right choice. By the way my battery life is awesome on this thing. 8 hours of usage and 27 hours on standby and I still have 46% left. BTW: the usage is with the screen on and not just streaming music. I consistently get more than 14 hours of usage. Is this normal?
 
zamboni52 said:
I sold my original iPad to buy the 128GB Verizon iPad Air. I loved it and with the Speck folio case the speaker sound was redirected toward the front which made the sound a little better. The size difference between the iPad 1 and Air was tremendous. Everything was perfect. Then the Retina mini was released. I owned the Air for 2 weeks until I returned it for the rMini. My 2 weeks for the mini ran out yesterday and I still own it. I tried to convince myself for two weeks that the Air was better for the price even though it was $100 more. I struggled until 8:30 last night to bring it back to the Apple store, but I didn't.

I read about the image retention and gamut issue and unless you are specifically looking for it, it doesn't affect the usability in everyday situations. In fact, unless you are looking at them side by side I wouldn't even notice the gamut difference. It's there, but not enough of factor for me. The IR is only visible when you put the checkerboard pattern on the screen for 5 minutes. Yes, that's there too, but not enough of a factor for me either. I quickly switched between web pages, apps, etc, and not once did IR affect my experience.

I think the size and increased PPI outweigh these issues for me. Reading on it is fine. Pulse and Flipboard work great. I use it with the Apple leather case and it is very portable and slim. Once I put the case on the Air it became slightly too big and heavy compared to a cased mini. I will buy the Speck Folio case for the rMini when they finally put the magnets back in for the screen. The speaker sound redirection at the bottom really makes a difference.

Sorry this is so long. Maybe I'm just trying the convince myself that I made the right choice. By the way my battery life is awesome on this thing. 8 hours of usage and 27 hours on standby and I still have 46% left. BTW: the usage is with the screen on and not just streaming music. I consistently get more than 14 hours of usage. Is this normal?
Click to expand...

I thought any device bought Nov 2 and after was eligible for Apple holiday return policy till Jan 7th?
 
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