Tesco have the 32gb white WiFi in stock... No other models yet though, be sure to use the code in the special offers section for £30 off 
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All iPads UK iPad Air & iPad mini with Retina Thread
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I got a 32GB Space Grey Cellular in Glasgow yesterday - I've only ever seen the cellular ones available in the 32GB - which was lucky for me as that's what I was after. I nabbed it on reserve at 06:00 yesterday morning.
And the screen isn't as vibrant as the Air but photos etc. look a bit sharper and the screen is pretty even.
Some thoughts and opinions, chaps. With the wife wanting the Air for Christmas, I have the perfect excuse to buy the Mini with Retina for myself. The thing is, I often travel with work and this results in many hotel nights - often weeks and months on end - so data is essential. I would like to keep this purchase as light as possible and eyeing up the 32 GB or 64 GB version with cellular on contract (probably Vodafone or EE).
Only, before I jump in, I would like to know the 3G/4G speed loss from tethering an iPhone 5's connection to the Mini. (I can only assume there is a loss; I haven't tethered before.) Is the loss negligible, or does having the local cellular chip and plan make the extra price worthwhile?
Only, before I jump in, I would like to know the 3G/4G speed loss from tethering an iPhone 5's connection to the Mini. (I can only assume there is a loss; I haven't tethered before.) Is the loss negligible, or does having the local cellular chip and plan make the extra price worthwhile?
Agreed, the 30 day rolling contracts are good value these days. Only, the data plan on my work and personal phones are pretty good (one is unlimited, the other is 3GB) and so if any speed loss from tethering was negligible, I would rather buy the wifi version and perhaps upgrade the storage to 128 GB.
I was about to mention battery drain. Regards to speed loss, I can't imagine you'd lose speed with wifi tethering, if indeed you would via Bluetooth.
If you're not heavily into streaming loads of video, I'd normally recommend Three 3 month 3gb data sims. Amazon sold them for about £12 until recently, and I find 3gb for 3 months more than enough as I don't really stream. However, they've suffered a massive price hike recently and are now £18-£20. Might be due to Three's imminent (December) shift to pseudo LTE, dunno.
Anyway, my current sim is up on Dec 2nd, so I've took a punt on an EE 6gb 3 month sim from Amazon, £19.99. Look forward to experienced LTE, and as it's 6gb for the same period I may go wild and stream some stuff.
Thanks for the input, everyone. Particularly:
I totally forgot about the potential battery drain issues. Also, rather intrigued by your "pain to get a connection" comment. The last thing I want is settling into the hotel room after work and pissing around with bluetooth and wifi, trying to establish the bloody connection.
I shall stick with the Cellular version, chaps. Just waiting for EE and Vodafone to list their plans......
I totally forgot about the potential battery drain issues. Also, rather intrigued by your "pain to get a connection" comment. The last thing I want is settling into the hotel room after work and pissing around with bluetooth and wifi, trying to establish the bloody connection.
I shall stick with the Cellular version, chaps. Just waiting for EE and Vodafone to list their plans......
If you're one of the many people in this thread constantly clicking on the Apple reservation link to check stock, have you actually noticed stock increase?
I've only ever seen it go down. If you have seen it go up, can you recall around what time?
I've only ever seen it go down. If you have seen it go up, can you recall around what time?
I used to use a 3 sim from amazon, and it was excellent when you were standing still.
However on my commute it would be absolutely useless on a train, even with full signal internet wouldnt work and my line isnt in the sticks, its Twickenham to Waterloo. At waterloo station good luck getting anything at all at rush hours.
I changed over to a 3GB EE monthly tarrif for £9.99 (carphone warehouse deal), and its been ace. Not sure if its faster or not, but its definitely better in terms of usability on trains.
However on my commute it would be absolutely useless on a train, even with full signal internet wouldnt work and my line isnt in the sticks, its Twickenham to Waterloo. At waterloo station good luck getting anything at all at rush hours.
I changed over to a 3GB EE monthly tarrif for £9.99 (carphone warehouse deal), and its been ace. Not sure if its faster or not, but its definitely better in terms of usability on trains.
A socket which, in my experience, is located nowhere near where you actually want it to be
Been checking the london stores and they all started off with 16 and 32gb wifi and now some of them only have 16 left.
I've never seen any other model in london altho I was ten mins late to 6am yesterday so its possoble all the cellular models had gone by then
Absolutely, but what about in the restaurant or bar?
I bought an Anker portable battery/charger from Amazon. Great bit of kit.
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I think the 6am is just when reservations start again, with stock left over from the previous day. Yesterday between around 2 and 3, the reservation site wouldn't let you select the mini in step 2, so was hoping that's when they do an update.
Must deffo be a regional thing as I spend all my working day on trains (literally) and Three is great oop north, bar understandably impenetrable tunnels etc.
Still, as my phone is Three, it'd be good having a different provider for my iPad for those times when one or ther other is having problems.
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Great thing about cellular is, even ignoring the battery drain of tethering, your iPad is "always on" and can be used just like you use your phone - pick it up, browse/email whatever, put it down. No matter how quick you are tethering, there's always that barrier of setting it up.
YMMV of course and it comes at a premium but the Mini, much more than the Air, begs to be taken everywhere with you, and it being always on makes it so much more useful imo. Yeah yeah, wifi hotspots blah blah, but do you really want to be reliant on Wetherspoons and Starbucks? I can understand full size iPad buyers going wifi only, but the Mini has a really different usage case for a lot of people I think. It can be used discretely almost everywhere, and a permanent data connection is bliss compared with tethering.
YMMV of course and it comes at a premium but the Mini, much more than the Air, begs to be taken everywhere with you, and it being always on makes it so much more useful imo. Yeah yeah, wifi hotspots blah blah, but do you really want to be reliant on Wetherspoons and Starbucks? I can understand full size iPad buyers going wifi only, but the Mini has a really different usage case for a lot of people I think. It can be used discretely almost everywhere, and a permanent data connection is bliss compared with tethering.
