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Oh and the topic of screens, I compared the Air right next to the Mini Retina in the store the other day, fired up Ravensword Shadowland on them both and to my eyes the Mini looked slightly better, not worse.

I just tried this because I thought it couldn't be true, but they really are almost identical, maybe because of no red on the scenes I was looking at. When I went back to the home screen with apps however I could again see a difference in favor of the Air. Not dissing the rMini - I love mine for the portability and the screen is good even if not quite as good as the Air.
 
It may fit, but won't have the hole on he back for the mike. The retina is bigger. I was given a music stand holder for Father's Day and the retina won't clip in, bit it is designed for the original mini.

hmmm thanks, I'll try it and see, the case was only £6 or about $10 so no great loss. I'll be putting a very nice leather case on my Christmas list so will just get another cheap case if it doesn't fit.

I just tried this because I thought it couldn't be true, but they really are almost identical, maybe because of no red on the scenes I was looking at. When I went back to the home screen with apps however I could again see a difference in favor of the Air. Not dissing the rMini - I love mine for the portability and the screen is good even if not quite as good as the Air.

I can't remember if it had a bit of red or not in it, but to me the home screen looks very similar too.
 
^^^This^^^

When I got the mini, I set it next to my air and displayed the same image on both. The difference in color was overwhelming. Back went the mini and I now am happy with two Air units. I am more than willing to sacrifice the size for a better screen.

That's what I am finding, only reason I am keeping my mini for now is for ebooks and a sonos controller, for everything else the Air is better. If I had to choose one it would be the Air, for another $120 you get a much bigger, nicer colourful screen.
The mini should be half the price of thE Air IMHO, as you are getting half the ipad, especially in colour.
 
I just tried this because I thought it couldn't be true, but they really are almost identical, maybe because of no red on the scenes I was looking at. When I went back to the home screen with apps however I could again see a difference in favor of the Air. Not dissing the rMini - I love mine for the portability and the screen is good even if not quite as good as the Air.

This. The differences aren't as bad as people make them out to be. I have both a Retina Mini and an Air. Love them both and would not give them up for anything.
 
Finally got a Retina Mini today for myself. $250 from a guy off Craigslist. I agree it is beautiful. Gorgeous screen and blows my 1st gen Mini away in performance. Retina display makes all the difference.
 
Finally got a Retina Mini today for myself. $250 from a guy off Craigslist. I agree it is beautiful. Gorgeous screen and blows my 1st gen Mini away in performance. Retina display makes all the difference.

Are you going to buy the new one when it comes out this year or are you going to keep it for longer?
 
I'm not sure that I'll upgrade. I currently have the retina iPad mini and use it as my daily constant companion. It does everything that I need for it to. Apple is going to have to make this a really substantial upgrade for folks to upgrade. Even another stick of ram won't be enough to make me spend about a thousand bucks to get another data 32 gig unit with AppleCare.
 
Are you going to buy the new one when it comes out this year or are you going to keep it for longer?

I think I'll be able to resist whatever Apple unveils for iPad this year. I'm only expecting Touch ID and performance improvements. I hope to keep this one for at least a year.
 
I think I'll be able to resist whatever Apple unveils for iPad this year. I'm only expecting Touch ID and performance improvements. I hope to keep this one for at least a year.

Same here. No reason to upgrade at all. We will upgrade my wife's iPad2 for an Air2, but my 64GB rMini is perfectly fine for at least another year. (Hopefully two!)
 
Agreed about the Retina Mini. IMO it's the best iPad in Apple's arsenal. I thought I needed an Air, but I ended up hating the size of it. Why would I waste my time holding a big screen that can't compete with a laptop when I can just use my Macbook Pro Retina instead? Or any other laptop for that matter. The Mini is just so perfect in size, and it actually feels like its built for a purpose other than a computer replacement. Games run great on it, as do all my music and video services.

As for upgrading this year, I won't unless they drastically alter something important. A small speed boost and gimmicky touch access isn't enough.
 
Another thing I've noticed since using this iPad for a while is that the safari reloading tabs thing doesn't happen nearly as often as it did on the 1st gen Mini. I'd say it's not even a significant enough issue to bother me on this one.
 
The only time you will notice the difference is if you have the two side by side.

Not necessarily. Even if you are used to using an iPhone with retina display, you will notice the inferior gamut on the rMini. Does it affect everyone? Absolutely not, but to tell someone that they won't notice it unless compared side by side is not necessarily true. It really depends on how observant the user is when it comes to display colors.
 
Not necessarily. Even if you are used to using an iPhone with retina display, you will notice the inferior gamut on the rMini. Does it affect everyone? Absolutely not, but to tell someone that they won't notice it unless compared side by side is not necessarily true. It really depends on how observant the user is when it comes to display colors.

Nay not so replied the angel....imo
I cannot and do not notice the difference. Honestly. Even when trying to SEE it, so color me unobservant.
I use all three on a daily basis. In using all three, I enjoy all three equally and notice no problem with color gamut or pixel density or any of the other issues that people harp on.
To me, the one that is best, is the one that is being used currently by the individual. I use the rMini 90% of the time and have no issues, personally. All I'm saying is that I agree that the Retina iPad Mini is a gorgeous piece of tech.
 
Hee, the color gamut issue. I've played around with quite a few Airs and see the (vastly superior on paper) retina panel on my macbook pro for hours every day. The mini's perfectly fine. I'd be more disturbed if they started installing OLED panels in their iPads, hated the mura and black-crush-ridden and quickly degrading over-saturated OLED crap from day one. (First gen Vita, Galaxy S3 which I sadly still have to use for another month until my contract is up and I finally get to switch to the iPhone 6...) Ugh.
I'd take another hit on color gamut on the mini if it meant avoiding OLED. :rolleyes:
 
I love everything about mine so far EXCEPT for the speakers. They have incredible clarity and nothing ever sounds distorted, but mine are so quiet! I have to have them at 80% volume when watching stuff alone in a quiet room, which makes them pretty unusable in any other kind of situation for me. And when my Mini is in my bag and I'm out and about places I often won't hear notifications due to the low volume of the speakers.

But oh my gosh the screen! And the design! And… EVERYTHING! What a drool-worthy device. And I take it with me everywhere, something I doubt I would do with a full-sized iPad. Oh and the battery life! I'm able to use mine heavily and still only need to charge it once per day, unlike my iPhone which I often needed to charge twice per day with my typical usage. Not needing to put it on the charger until I go to bed at night is a HUGE plus for me!

Just look at buying a bluetooth speaker or headphones. You can find the headphones for like $20-40 on Amazon. I have a Logitech Mini Boombox that I use when I want to watch movies or TV shows on it while I am cooking dinner and I use a some August EP650 Bluetooth headphones for when I want to hear better and not disturb anyone else.

I bought these when they were about $39.
http://www.amazon.com/August-Bluetooth-Wireless-Stereo-Headphones/dp/B00FZLV9L8/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1410552187&sr=1-2&keywords=august+bluetooth+headphones


I originally bought this when it was much more expensive through Verizon when I upgraded to an iP5. That was two years ago. It is still ticking and last for a few hours on a charge. Has been on many trips with me and the family.
http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Boombox-Smartphones-Tablets-Laptops/dp/B005PUZOYM/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1410552305&sr=1-1&keywords=logitech+mini+boombox



Also, in regards to the color gamut difference between the Air and rMini, I am colorblind so it doesn't bother me. I came from an iPad 3 (or The New iPad), to the iPad Mini, to the iPad rMini. I am happy with mine and use it for hours every day. Small enough to take with me when I do want to, whereas I would never take my iPad 3 out of the house unless I was going on a trip. That thing was heavy. I gave it to the wife since she never leaves the house with it either.
 
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