When the mini was first released, I had the current retina display version of the regular iPad and was very happy with it. I looked at the mini as sort of a budget ipad and never really thought any more about it. And then a friend of mine, a photographer who travels as much as I do, got one, replacing his full sized iPad, and started raving about it.
It's funny now, looking back on it, that all the reasons I dismissed the mini as suitable for me were completely WRONG.
1. No retina display -- I bought into the retina display mindset fully. How could I ever go back? It really doesn't make that much of a difference on an iPad*. Yes the text is a little bit crisper on the retina, but other than that, it uses more battery power and quite honestly, photos look fine on the non retina display if you are looking at the photos and not searching to see pixels. (* It makes a huge difference on a MacBook Pro vs older screens.)
2. Older CPU so it's slow -- So it is the previous generation CPU, but so what? I do edit photos now and then on the iPad (more for fun and convenience than necessity) and it can churn though large raw files at nearly the same speed as the larger iPad. I mean if I was rendering large movies or something like that, it might make a difference, but it does fine with watching movies on iTunes, Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc. as well as playing games, including the FPS offerings.
3. It's smaller- everything will be too small -- True, it is smaller. But everything looks fine on it. Editing photos, writing emails, facebook, etc. The only thing that it might make a difference is playing games where the simulated "thumb sticks" are on the lower right and left side of the screens. I find that my thumbs keep creeping up towards the center of the screen, but I blame my lazy thumbs for that more than the iPad mini design.
4. There aren't any good protective cases --- WROOOONG. The Otter Box case for the mini is the best case I have ever had for any iPad... ever. It protects it fully (including the ports), looks good, doesn't add much bulk and means that I don't need a neoprene or some other sort of soft case to put it in when I carry it. In the Otter Box case, I can put it a camera bag, laptop bag, backpack, or whatever without having to worry about it getting beat up.
So these were my main arguments against it, here are a few things I discovered after I bought it that make it an ideal travel companion.
It is much lighter -- I don't notice that I'm carrying it because it doesn't weigh as much as the regular iPads. It is also easier to hold when you find yourself in that weird spot where you are reading, surfing the web, playing games, etc. and you have to hold it for an extended period of time. It is much more comfortable to hold, and easy to hold one-handed.
It is smaller -- It fits in every camera bag and backpack I own. When I had a full sized iPad, I had to make room to wedge it in most of my camera bag setups. It also took up almost as much room in my laptop bag as the laptop due to the footprint of the big iPad. The mini fits in everything. It'll even fit in my chestvest camera bag. It is much easier to carry around.
The battery life is awesome -- I assumed that it being smaller, that the battery life would not be good. This thing seems to run forever on one charge. Doing a lot of overseas work, the iPad mini has been my companion now on a lot of 8 - 12 hour flights and the battery life is amazing. Part of this is because it is a smaller non retina display, so it requires a lot less power to keep it going. I use it a lot for reading books and surfing during downtime and it seems to last a lot longer when plugs are in short supply.
Not entirely sure of my decision when I bought the mini, I kept my iPad3, expecting that I would continue to use it along with the mini. But after buying the mini, the full sized iPad just sat, unused. I was happier using the smaller iPad! I ended up selling the iPad3 about two months later after realizing I never used it!
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| The iPad mini with a picture of my daughter in ballet class. The image was shot with a Fuji X-E1 and 60mm lens and processed and edited on the mini |
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