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Can't put it down

The reason it works so well, I believe, is that it runs all your iPad and iPad 2 apps right out-of-the-tin, no compatibility issues, no buggering around, no special iPad Mini app updates required. Cynics have dubbed the product “a big iPod Touch” but despite what I wrote earlier it’s much more like a compact iPad 2.

Still plenty of browsing space

Hang on, no, it’s better than an iPad 2: it’s half the weight, cheaper, includes better cameras and is available in models with up to four times the storage. While the lack of a Retina screen is a shame, the physical pixel shrinkage does make text appear smoother and more comfortable to read than on the first two generations of iPad. With the iPad Mini, Apple seems to have created its own iPad 2-killer, which is bizarre.

The way I see it, the full-size Retina iPads are targeted at the well-off, the show-off and business. The iPad Mini is for everyone else. Don’t bother trying to go ‘half-way’ with an iPad 2 because the iPad Mini beats the pants off it.

Spot the difference

Now a reality check: look at that ghastly price. Yikes. If you opt for a 32GB iPad Mini like I did, it’ll cost you at least £150 more than an equivalent 7in tablet from Amazon or Google. In fact, you could buy two non-HD Kindle Fires for roughly the price of a single – and also non-HD – iPad Mini. Frankly, you'd have to be mad to prefer the latter.

Call a doctor because – God forgive me for writing this – I love this tablet. Apple says: “You won’t be able to put it down.” Bang on.

Verdict

By all means, compare the tech specs and prices with those of the new wave of Android mini-tablets, and no doubt you’ll conclude that Apple has launched an overpriced and under-specced turkey. But make the effort to find an iPad Mini on display, pick it up and try it out for yourself. It’s only with the product in your hands that you’ll start to appreciate what makes it so special. ®

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Cloud based data management

80%

Apple iPad Mini

Apple's 8in tablet is pricier than its Android rivals and lacks an HD screen, but it;s bloody good just the same.

Price: £269 (16GB), £349 (32GB), £429 (64GB) RRP

More Info: Apple's iPad Mini page

COMMENTS

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All Reader Comments (162)

Highly Rated

Posted Monday 5th November 2012 13:38 GMT

Anonymous Coward

Re: Sheltered Life

"Specs specs specs specs specs specs that's all Android fans ever go on about"

... All thanks to its 3.1 million pixels. It’s the best mobile display ever.

The new A6X chip inside iPad is up to twice as fast as the previous-generation A5X chip,

The new iPad with Retina display features advanced Wi‑Fi that’s up to twice as fast as any previous....

And that's all from the iPad's front page,,,,

I personally couldn't give a flying monkeys what OS something is running, so long as it's priced and specc'd for what I want to do.

I use mine for web browsing & videos. So for me so long as it can output 1080p with out add on's (bar a £10 cable) and browse the web I'm happy, for others they may want more power and more toys.

Personally I've been in this game far to long to be bothered by this pointless willy waving. At the end of the day, if you are buying a device because it looks super trendy, or because it's an open platform with no restrictions and you can do what you want, as opposed to buying it because it actually does what you want it to do, then you've still yet to grow up.

So please, buy the device you want and stop this pointless he said, she said crap, some of us are really bored of it now.

Posted Monday 5th November 2012 13:40 GMT

Anonymous Coward

Re: Couldn't Happen To A Nicer Company

"Cheap Android tablets feel like shit. They use thin, horrible plastic, they are slow and they are buggy."

Perhaps stop shopping for tablets in supermarkets..

" I work with phones and tablets all day long"

Translation: I work in an Apple Store.

"if you add up the device features as a whole it's worth every penny."

No it's not. No GPS, Shite maps, no NFC, no multi-use logon, and a rubbish 4:3 non-HD panel, couple with a mediocre (by Nexus7 standards) GPU/CPU, and the infamous Apple lock-in to proprietary formats and connectors and all for an extra £150...

Posted Monday 5th November 2012 14:14 GMT

Anonymous Coward

Re: Sheltered Life

""Cheap Android tablets feel like shit. They use thin, horrible plastic, they are slow and they are buggy.

If you are only basing on price alone, then yeah, the iPad Mini gets beaten, but if you add up the device features as a whole it's worth every penny.""

.....Oh great, compare a £259 iPad Mini with a <£100 android, 'cos that's a fair fight......................

Why not compare a 16GB/No SDHC/No HDMI Nexus 7 at £159 with a 16GB/No SDHC/No HDMI iPad Mini at £269 then I'll discuss with you. If you want to tell me that quad-core is too slow, or take umbrage at the grippy rubberised back, them I'm confused. So what do I get for paying 70% more?

My fingertip grip on a Mini in Dixons told me that it's too wide for my hands and although tethered to the display, also too wide for my inside jacket pocket.

If I have to put it in my bag, or can't grip it properly when say on the tube, then it's not fit for going out and about which is surely the selling point for a mini??