iPad Mini Reviews

[robertc88]

My local Best Buy did not have it set up yet where all the tablets are displayed. A clerk had one in hand and let whomever inquired about it mess with it for a short time.

I agree that it was a nice device. 99% of the Joes out there probably will be quite happy with it to tell the truth regardless that some other tablets have better specs and are cheaper. Why? Well you know and I'm not sure because of that why anyone didn't think it would sell initially especially with the holidays coming.

[captkjaneway]

Not for me at that price, but do see the allure.

A 3rd generation chip, lower screen resolution all tied up in a metal premium price bundle that looks pretty and has easy to follow, pretty coloured icons and basic functionality will meet the needs of millions I am sure.

Apple are a clever lot, and rather than compete head on with the Nexus 7 and Fire, they have brought their own brand of high-priced luxury to the 7" format and people will buy it because the apps from their iPhones and iPads will also work on this, they can sync with iTunes and nothing will have to change.

I would bet 'most' users will utilise email, Whatsapp, Viber, Skype, the music player, the reader, some games and possibly Slingbox and the iPad Mini will deliver triumphantly and everyone will be happy.

[sabredog]

Cannot see a link to this review within the thread, so apologies if there has been a post with a link

http://www.teleread.com/apple/the-ip...t-impressions/

I agree with the reviewer, seems spot on to what I think.

[Fluribus]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

Assuming you're not making a completely arbitrary case based on your own assumptions and being another simpering conformist on an Apple thread (Apple being another company that made make-believe nonconformity a marketing strategy, which means that people who notice this but privilege other brands representing mass-produced consumer devices as being less conformist are also make-believe nonconformists), let's say for the sake of argument that you really are in a class that uses iTunes U.

I am a cripple who doesn't watch TV.

Then you seem to be complaining about access to free content from an Apple service, content which can be played on any device from an Apple service once it's downloaded.

I'm complaining about the software that I have to use to download that content.

Apparently this bothers you because you can't separate the service from the brand name that happens to be attached to it.

This bothers me because the iTunes software is a buggy mess that has caused me more headaches than all other software combined. (All the way back to Commodore PET and Apple II.)

To those of us who went to college in the days of note-taking and tape recorders, that really does sound like incontinent whining.

I played CRPGs in the days of drawing maps on graph paper. I still expect modern CRPGs to work properly.

Everyone who looks at an Apple thread as an excuse to take out their aggression on random Apple users has the same neurological disorder that compulsive Apple users do: they're victims of BIS (Brand Identification Syndrome). "My brand is better because the specs speak for themselves and I bought it after careful comparisons. That means it's real tech, whereas yours is illusory tech. My choices make me important."

I suffer from Brand Alienation Syndrome. I don't care who's name is on anything.

Not exactly -- all consumers scry their tea-leaf choices based on whatever Pavlovian enticements make them privilege one product over another. None of these companies care about you or anyone else and none is particularly special or egregious.

Mostly I scry with cash-leaves or magic chickens.

Brand wars are a Roman arena to distract you from your true condition. Reality TV shows work the same way when they valorize or vilify ordinary people on a ludicrous scale.

Nos morituri te salutamus.

Doesn't the relentless pursuit of easy targets ever make people feel a tad Fox-News obvious?

I couldn't relentlessly pursue a one-legged tortoise.

No matter how good specs or features might be, every post gloating about them at someone else's expense makes the same tired Dawn of the Dead analogy directed at shambling consumer herds -- the shambling masses to which, amazingly, the authors of those posts imagine they themselves do not belong.

I have an old Dell Axim that used to belong to Moses. The backup battery is kaput. I have to reset it every now and again. I paid $12 for it. It works better than iTunes. I could go on...and on...and on. (I'll save it for the "Apple hates cripples" thread.)

I'm not a shambling zombie. I'm the guy yelling, "Apocalypse--schmapocalypse. Free guns, baby!"

[afv011]

As a reading device, the mini falls short of the competition:

The $199 Amazon Kindle Fire HD and Google Nexus 7 both have considerably sharper displays with 216 pixels per inch, and they both delivered considerably sharper text.

Screen visibility and readability in high ambient light depends on both the maximum brightness and screen reflectance, which we evaluate with a contrast rating for high ambient light. On the Kindle Fire HD it is 58 percent higher than the iPad mini and 47 percent higher on the Nexus 7.

...the Amazon Kindle Fire HD and Google Nexus 7 both deliver a much larger 86 percent color gamut...So it was a surprise and a major disappointment for the iPad mini to arrive with an antiquated smaller 62 percent color gamut.

What's more, the displays on existing mini tablets from Amazon and Google outperform the iPad mini in most of our lab tests as documented below in the Shoot-Out comparison table.

Also not great for movies either:

On the iPad mini, 16:9 content is viewed letterboxed with only 1024x576 resolution, which is getting pretty close to standard definition video rather than true high definition 1280x720 video on most other mini tablets like the Amazon Kindle Fire HD and Google Nexus 7.

Most displays are now coming with lower reflectance screens. The Amazon Kindle Fire HD and Google Nexus 7 managed to accomplish this, even at their low price points, but the iPad mini comes with an unusually high reflectance—it reflects 53 percent more ambient light than the Nexus 7 and 41 percent more than the Kindle Fire HD. This is another poor choice and another significant competitive shortfall.

... the Amazon Kindle Fire HD and Google Nexus 7 both managed to deliver considerably larger 86 percent color gamuts.

Source

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by Kolenka

That's a fairly old post, but still quite relevant. Some of the comments posted about the reviews are still valid in the face of this though (if somewhat exaggerated).

Yes, I wrote it a long time ago but quoted it because I tire of reiterating the same idea on boards on which people ought to know better. This is a board dedicated to reading, for the love of Steve Allen. I shouldn't have to explain the fallacy of consumer individuality to people who are capable of grasping Roland Barthes.

They're called brands for a reason, and the branding iron is never far from the consumer or the product.

Notice that afv01's last post is all about practical limitations and comparisons, and doesn't resort to a series of xenophobic assumptions about strangers who buy The Other Brand or easy lists of negative attributes. He kills the Mini rhetorically, but he does it helpfully. Anything else would be peer pressure masquerading as criticism.

If someone honestly hates hype, then they won't substitute anti-hype-hype for information, or empirical experience.

No ideas but in things, as W.C. Williams once said. Describing a thing accurately is the best way to express an opinion.

Sabredog:

I liked your teleread review because the writer dispensed with the narrative of the brand. No, Gizmodo and Engadget, you don't need to summarize the meaning of an Apple tablet for any of your readers, nor does your verdict matter. Just tell us about the experience of using what's in front of you as accurately as you can.

[Kolenka]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

No, Gizmodo and Engadget, you don't need to summarize the meaning of an Apple tablet for any of your readers, nor does your verdict matter. Just tell us about the experience of using what's in front of you as accurately as you can.

Unfortunately, I don't think this will quite happen as long as review copies are being handed to these folks early, and the review written under embargo. Losing the ability to review early and get stuff out to readers promptly compared to their competition is painful. Especially when these companies have and will black-list you from this early access for various reasons.

[robertc88]

Afv011,

When the time comes, I'm sure or at least hope the new nooks are given their due as you outlined in your post as far as comparison to the iPad mini.

Strictly taken from the standpoint of reading and video playback, they will be a force to be reckoned with.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by robertc88

Afv011,

When the time comes, I'm sure or at least hope the new nooks are given their due as you outlined in your post as far as comparison to the iPad mini.

Strictly taken from the standpoint of reading and video playback, they will be a force to be reckoned with.

I agree. It is a shame Giz didn't add the Nook HD to their comparison, with a 1440x900 resolution it should be the best reading device among the 7 inchers, if not flat out the best reading device.

[Fluribus]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

Yes, I wrote it a long time ago but quoted it because I tire of reiterating the same idea on boards on which people ought to know better. This is a board dedicated to reading, for the love of Steve Allen. I shouldn't have to explain the fallacy of consumer individuality to people who are capable of grasping Roland Barthes.

I don't like to be completely serious very often, but...

Embrace chaos. If this were a board dedicated to symbolic logic, you would still find illogical people.

People are illogical. That cannot be changed. It is illogical to try to change that which cannot be changed. Of course, people are illogical.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Fluribus

Of course, people are illogical.

...and songs are logical

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by afv011

I agree. It is a shame Giz didn't add the Nook HD to their comparison, with a 1440x900 resolution it should be the best reading device among the 7 inchers, if not flat out the best reading device.

In hardware terms, maybe, but the limited app store would knock it down several pegs for most people, I think.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

In hardware terms, maybe, but the limited app store would knock it down several pegs for most people, I think.

As a pure tablet, yes, but as a book, newspaper and magazine reader, it's probably ahead.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by afv011

As a pure tablet, yes, but as a book, newspaper and magazine reader, it's probably ahead.

As the only tablet you can't read Kindle books on?
The only one you can't use Zinio to read magazines on? Use PressDisplay to read newspapers on? (Unless that has changed recently)
It is locked out of a huge amount of reading content.
A walled garden far beyond the height of anything Apple sell.

[PatNY]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

As the only tablet you can't read Kindle books on?
The only one you can't use Zinio to read magazines on? Use PressDisplay to read newspapers on? (Unless that has changed recently)
It is locked out of a huge amount of reading content.
A walled garden far beyond the height of anything Apple sell.

This will all depend on the ability to easily root the Nook. If it's possible, then the issue will mostly disappear. If I were B&N I would purposely make the Nooks easy to root, as doing so will sell more units for them. Even if they don't officially sanction side loading and rooting, it's the smart thing to enable it. Kobo's newest tablets have open access to Google, with no rooting required. That's what B&N should be doing.

Meanwhile, CNET put the Mini and N7 into the ring for a smackdown, and the N7 came out ahead: Link to video

--Pat