Apple iPad mini

As it seems the mods here can’t be bothered to create new content (their primary function), I thought I’d start a thread to see what members think of the new Apple iPad mini, which launched in the USA yesterday.

I have a MacBook Pro and IP4S running Pages (synchronised via iCloud), but held off from buying an iPad because it isn’t much smaller or cheaper than an Airbook and lacks a lot of my favourite tools such as Scrivener, which is still unavailable for iOS. Nevertheless, the smaller footprint of the new model looks like a suitable compromise.

Of course, I'm speaking as someone locked into the Applesphere. To an Android user, the iPad mini may not look like anything new so I'd like to hear from the Samsungophiles. There are also a few iPad users here such as Oppers - what do you make of the new iPad's size? Here's the advert. Perhaps the most surprising thing about the promo is New Order’s ancient Age of Consent being used on the soundtrack; ah, corporate whores at last.

It's interesting that you consider the slightly smaller size as a positive for your personal needs. I think the regular iPad's size is the right compromise between a smartphone and a MacBook/laptop. I'd need to handle the mini myself, but I suspect that anything smaller would not offer much more functionality in terms of screen size than my smartphone.

I travel a lot and like gadgets so I'm always looking for portable writing tools. However, when I hired an iPad 2, I found it to be too big, surprisingly heavy and insufficiently powerful. Not for me, in other words.

Although I'm convinced touch screens are the way ahead - and I can't see myself buying another laptop - I need a powerful processor for publishing and I'm not going to find that in a glorified smartphone. From the look of what's already out there it seems I'm just waiting for affordable technology to catch up with what I want.

In the meantime, I'll take a look at the iPad Mini and see if it has anything to offer. It looks a lot easier to carry and that might be enough for notes and outlines. I like the idea of a casual machine that automatically transfers sketches and mindmaps to my MacBook for finishing, but that's a bit of a stretch on my iPhone.

I have the original Ipad, which is about the same size/thickness of the current gen ipad and noticebly larger/thicker than the Ipad 2 you experienced. Thinking I wanted something a bit more portable (and wanting a foot in both camps) I later purchased the Samsung 8.9" tablet and tbh the smaller screen real estate is really noticeable....so a drop to 7.7" is one I wouldn't consider lightly. Yes the device is more portable, and is great as an ereader (with the caveat that an lcd screen is not great for an e-reader) but its not so good for web browsing or magazine purchases which is my primary use. As for processing power the specs suggest a processing boost from the A5x but there is no across the board increase suggested from the graphical standpoint which to me indicates no great change.

I dislike apple therefore I don't like the iPad.

Bought the new iPad in the end simply because of the retina screen; an earlier upgrade to an IP5 made it impossible for me to stand the low-res screen of the iPad Mini any longer. Funny, because the Mini's display seemed fine until then.