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iPad mini Will she think I am a cheapskate?

N

notaznguy

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 29, 2010
30
1
UPDATE:

I gave her the iPad mini for her birthday and she absolutely LOVED it. She was a bit shocked I spent so much on her, haha oops, but she was really happy and appreciative.

Thanks for all your responses, the good and the bad ones. It provided an interesting myriad of perspectives.
 
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If she's going to be upset because you got her a Mini 1, then she's not worth the time.
 
notaznguy said:
So I bought my girlfriend an iPad mini 1 for her birthday which I will give to her soon. The thing is, we've been dating less than a year and I couldn't and didn't want to spend $400+ on a Retina mini. It was just too much for me for a gift.

I also happened to have bought her mini 1 on a cyber Monday deal so I paid 250 instead of 300. I know she's been wanting a tablet for awhile but would just never want to spend the money on herself for one so I know she will appreciate the tablet itself.

But do you think she would at least think, "gee...why couldn't he get me the retina for $100+ more?"

Based on the responses in this forum, I feel like the mini 1 is like total garbage compared to the retina and feel a bit self conscious about it all.
Click to expand...

Depends on how much she knows/cares about technology! On the other hand, if she is not worth $400 to you then.................
 
Ah, another lovely thread debating the monetary worth of a relationship, and the worth of the woman involved.

Interesting that I don't recall ever reading one of these threads written by a woman.

It seems women have not yet reached that depth of superficiality.

I hope it never happens.
 
Doesn't sound like she's the techie who is into retina/no retina, you are fine.

Like the above guy says, if you are making an equation on relationship - monetary worth, then this is not a good relationship to start with.

Still, don't regale her with your tech knowledge and one day in a coffee shop show her off how much the guy sitting next's retina is so much better. That would be a faux pas.
 
Doubt she would think you are a cheapskate for buying her an iPad. And if it is something she would like but has not bought one because of price, then it is a very fine gift indeed.
 
Yes, cheapskate


You're already buying her the smaller one.


She's not as dumb as you think she is.
 
mhdena said:
Yes, cheapskate


You're already buying her the smaller one.


She's not as dumb as you think she is.
Click to expand...
This was a pretty stupid remark. There are perfectly valid reasons for going with an iPad Mini over a full-sized iPad, and they don't all relate to cost.

None of us can answer how your girlfriend will perceive the gift. Quite honestly, a gift of over $100 is a very expensive gift in the opinion of both myself and my wife. If you're getting her something that she has a use for then it's even more thoughtful.

If your question is whether the iPad Mini performs like garbage compared with the retina version, the answer is "no." I've used both the original iPad Mini and now the iPad Mini Retina for work. The speed improvement in the retina version is noticeable for tasks like searching PDFs or loading note documents, but not so much for things like reading e-books, working in mail, or web browsing. The pixel density of the display in the original iPad Mini sits between the iPad 2 and retina iPads. While I would say that it is noticeable that it isn't a retina display, it isn't something that gets in the way of using the device. Put another way, when I acquired my iPad 3 (retina), looking at the screen of an iPad 2 was painful. I could use my original iPad Mini (non-retina) and feel perfectly fine.

Don't stress over it. It's a very generous gift.
 
"If you can solve your problem, what is the need of worrying? If you can't solve it, what is the use of worrying?"

I'm sure it'll be fine. She will love it.
 
It's a good test. If she doesn't value your gift, then you paid $250 to find out what kind of character she has. A lot of men spend much more than $250 to figure out what kind of women they have on their hands ;)
 
notaznguy said:
So I bought my girlfriend an iPad mini 1 for her birthday which I will give to her soon. The thing is, we've been dating less than a year and I couldn't and didn't want to spend $400+ on a Retina mini. It was just too much for me for a gift.

I also happened to have bought her mini 1 on a cyber Monday deal so I paid 250 instead of 300. I know she's been wanting a tablet for awhile but would just never want to spend the money on herself for one so I know she will appreciate the tablet itself.

But do you think she would at least think, "gee...why couldn't he get me the retina for $100+ more?"

Based on the responses in this forum, I feel like the mini 1 is like total garbage compared to the retina and feel a bit self conscious about it all.
Click to expand...

If she's not appreciative, she's nor worth your time, energy or $$. If she appreciates it but offers to chip in $100 of her own money to exchange it for a Retina Mini, that might be a good option too. She might not care and love the Mini 1.

Keep us updated please
 
This will be a good test.

If she's disappointed, you'll know where her values and expectations lie.
 
I think that will be a great gift - the original mini is still a part of the current offered iPad line-up from Apple which in my book makes it legit regardless of being released last year.

My personal experience: a girl I have been dating bought me an original mini in August for my birthday and I was OVERJOYED! At the time I was aware there might be a rMini being released a few months later I still did and do think it is an amazing gift and very thoughtful.
 
identity said:
If she's going to be upset because you got her a Mini 1, then she's not worth the time.
Click to expand...

Exactly! If she's gets upset over a FREE iPad Mini 1st gen, then she's not worth your time. If someone had bought my iPad Mini for me as a gift, I'd be so happy. That would've been $299 less for me to spend on myself lol. Seriously if she gets mad about not getting a "retina" iPad mini, she's got problems and you should dumb her.
 
The 1st gen is NOT garbage. I bought the 1st generation, not too long ago, and it is a wonderful device. It has an older processor, but since it has a standard resolution screen, it doesn't really need the extra graphics power.
 
notaznguy said:
So I bought my girlfriend an iPad mini 1 for her birthday which I will give to her soon. The thing is, we've been dating less than a year and I couldn't and didn't want to spend $400+ on a Retina mini. It was just too much for me for a gift.

I also happened to have bought her mini 1 on a cyber Monday deal so I paid 250 instead of 300. I know she's been wanting a tablet for awhile but would just never want to spend the money on herself for one so I know she will appreciate the tablet itself.

But do you think she would at least think, "gee...why couldn't he get me the retina for $100+ more?"

Based on the responses in this forum, I feel like the mini 1 is like total garbage compared to the retina and feel a bit self conscious about it all.
Click to expand...
No. It isn't like buying her a 4s when there is a 5 with a noticeable difference(screen and design). Money doesn't buy happiness and she will still like u because it is the thought that counts and they rant that different.
 
Give me the iPad mini first gen.

This will do two things, first it will give you a reason to buy the more expensive iPad seeing as you feel low for thinking about giving her such a cheap device with the first gen that you got a good price on.

And second, it will show your generosity to her by giving a gift to a random stranger on the internet.

:cool:
 
notaznguy said:
So I bought my girlfriend an iPad mini 1 for her birthday which I will give to her soon. The thing is, we've been dating less than a year and I couldn't and didn't want to spend $400+ on a Retina mini. It was just too much for me for a gift.

I also happened to have bought her mini 1 on a cyber Monday deal so I paid 250 instead of 300. I know she's been wanting a tablet for awhile but would just never want to spend the money on herself for one so I know she will appreciate the tablet itself.

But do you think she would at least think, "gee...why couldn't he get me the retina for $100+ more?"

Based on the responses in this forum, I feel like the mini 1 is like total garbage compared to the retina and feel a bit self conscious about it all.
Click to expand...
Why are u so worried about it? Does she make u feel like that? I guess I never understand why people give each other $300 items right out the gate. What do u give her at the 10 year mark?
 
BenTrovato said:
It's a good test. If she doesn't value your gift, then you paid $250 to find out what kind of character she has. A lot of men spend much more than $250 to figure out what kind of women they have on their hands ;)
Click to expand...
Yeah, $250 is chump change.

Former LA Dodgers owner Frank McCourt settled with his wife for $131 million in cash, plus some very premium real estate.

Heck, two hundred and fifty bucks is less than a speeding ticket in a lot of jurisdictions.

LOL

:p
 
I think your gift is very generous and it came from your heart. That's all that matters. As a women myself, I think she will love and treasure it. Gifts aren't all about cost...at least they shouldn't be. Give her the Mini.
 
Better still, post a pic of her and we'll tell you if the 1st gen is enough.



I kid
 
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