It should come as no surprise that Apple’s new iPad Mini [announced today] is expected to be a major hit and among the top requested holiday gifts this year. And why not? If you’ve been thinking about an iPad the mini delivers much of the same experience, works with all the same apps, brings the same camera and even upgrades a few features while coming at a lower cost and more portable format.
If you’re weighing options you could certainly call the smaller screen a negative but if anything it makes it more useful, more portable so that’s a toss up. This leaves the screen quality [1024 x 768 @ 163 ppi on the mini vs 2048 x 1536 @ 264 ppi on the iPad Retina] and the processor [A5 vs A6] as the main drawbacks against a product that’s nearly twice the weight, 25% thicker and $179 more expensive.
Beyond that, well, you can find some great write ups on the mini already here and here and even a hands-on review here so if after all that it’s right for you go ahead and add it to your Christmas wish list along with all the covers, cables and other accessories you may want.
Now of course the iPad Mini isn’t right for everyone and at $329 some people may prefer another, lower-priced option, like the Kindle Fire or the Nexus 7. That’s ok, you can wishlist those too.
== Pre-orders start 10/26/2012
== Product Details from Apple.com 10/23/2012
