Apple's iPad Mini Review

Apple's iPad Mini will bring a lot more excitement and a little more confusion to the holiday shopping season.
It only takes a few minutes playing with the iPad mini to realize the scaled-down tablet computer will be a sure-fire hit with longtime Apple disciples and potential converts who've been looking for a more affordable entree into the mobile computing market.
With a 7.9-inch screen, the iPad mini is perfectly sized to be stuffed in Christmas stockings. Recipients who will discover the pleasure and convenience of being able to take pictures, surf the Web, watch video, read books and listen to music on an exquisitely designed device that's pancake thin. As enticing as that all sounds, the iPad mini also causes a dilemma, albeit a pleasant one.

Even though the mini's screen is 1.8 inches smaller than the standard iPad, the movie "The Avengers" looked lush, even in a side-by-side comparison with the larger tablet. When I pulled up the latest issue of the New Yorker, I didn't have to strain to see the text or pictures on the smaller screen. A quick check of other websites verified that the mini's screen isn't so tiny that it's going to cause a lot of squinting. After I took a very crisp picture of another reporter testing out a mini, I decided to email it to her to test how easy it was to use the keyboard on the smaller screen. No problem there. Best of all, the iPad Mini can be held in one hand and is about half the weight of the larger iPad.

The base model of the iPad mini costs $329 and comes with 16 gigabytes of storage. A 32 GB model goes for $429 and 64 GB for $529. Soon, you'll be able to get versions that can connect through cellular networks, not just Wi-Fi. Add $130 to the price.
The iPad mini is so mighty that I can't believe the iPad 2 will be on the market too much longer. The iPad 2's $399 price now looks like too much, given that the iPad mini can do just about everything it does on a slightly smaller screen. The iPad 2 still may have some appeal for people who want a larger tablet at a lower price the newest iPads, but I can't see too many consumers buying Apple's second-generation tablet now that the mini is available.

Consumers who aren't set on buying one of Apple's devices will have even more choices to make. The iPad mini is clearly aimed at siphoning sales away from the Nexus 7 tablet that Google Inc. began selling four months ago and the longer-established Kindle Fire from Amazon.com Inc. Figuring out which one is best-suited for you (or that special someone on your shopping list) will likely come down to weighing price against performance.

Amazon is sells a Kindle Fire HD with 16 gigabytes of storage and 7-inch screen for $199 and a similarly sized Nexus 7 goes for $249. That means an iPad mini will cost $80 to $130 more, a price that Apple believes is justified because it boasts more features, such as front and back cameras. The mini's reliance on aluminum instead of plastic for its exterior also makes it look more stylish and more enjoyable to hold.

If the speculation on technology blogs pans out, Google might make things even more interesting and dizzying for holiday shoppers by introducing a $99 version of the Nexus 7 in the coming weeks.