Well, you are all pretty much talking me out of the mini - which is fine - that’s the kind of stuff I wanted to know.
There isn’t any REAL reason I need to get one soon - I have a trip in 3 weeks it would be nice to have but I can probably limp along with my current one for 4 or 5 days out of town. I don’t want to bring my computer since this isn’t a work trip and I don’t want to be tempted to work!
I’ll see if I can find out when new iPads are coming out so I can think about when prices might drop. Those prices on the Pro are KILLER!
@abasket another bandaid that might work. I had an iPhone 5 and it was so slooow! I googled something like how to make your iPhone faster. And I found some things to do that did help the performance of the phone. Certain things to turn off and how to close out open tabs, things like that.
If you’ve done all that, I apologize. And if your iPad is almost out of memory, that hurts. I find that since I bought storage for my cloud, that helped a bit. I had no storage left on my iPhone and it was difficult. On my iPad, I delete any apps I’m not using, some things I need on the phone but never on the iPad. I don’t load too many things on it either and delete stuff off when I’m done.
I do like the bigger screen on my iPad, my D has a mini and since she got a newer iPhone, I don’t think she does much on the mini. It’s nice to read on.
I use an iPad in the exact way as abasket, and I love the mini. I had the bigger one and the larger screen was nice, but I actually prefer the size and weight of the mini and I like price. I would try it out at the Apple Store - if your eyes don’t mind the size, I think you will like it.
Going to the Apple Store is a good idea to play around.
@deb922, good reminder - I will do a little searching to see if there is anything I can do to speed things up. I haven’t updated it in a good while just because I figured it wouldn’t take it!
I don’t think the font size can be easily increased on the mini.
We bought the air 2 for my mother for Christmas and another for #1D for her January birthday. The price was right, ~$300. D loves hers.
I agree with other posters about memory. Get the most you can.
My iPad doesn’t have cell service and I’m ok with it. I usually use it at home or at places with wifi. I’ll use my phone if wifi isn’t available.
My iPad mini is wifi only. T-Mobile allows me to make my phone a hotspot. So far I have had no issues because its wifi only. Most places we stay have free wifi. I’ve not had problems adjusting font size on the mini.
I have an iPad mini and I love the size for holding it, putting it in a small purse, etc. If you have so-so near vision like me, the text is definitely smaller. That is my only regret about the mini. Not all pages will zoom. That and I wish I had gotten one with more storage. If I want to put shows or movies on it for a plane trip, I can’t fit very many on.
My wife has a Mini and I have an older full size iPad. I like the larger 9.7 size myself and I do notice a difference when I use my wife’s mini. I just like the larger screen myself but my wife seems to like her mini just fine. She uses it for the same reasons the OP says.
Neither of us have a cellular plan, we both have wifi only. Not really an issue because I can always tether it to my iPhone when I need to. No sense paying for two cellular plans when I can just use my iPhone as a hotspot and connect my iPad to it to access the internet. I do this when traveling and its worked out fine.
I think I have the ipad 4? Its fine for me. Use a zag bluetooth keyboard which explains many of my typo/autocorrects! It also answers my cellphone so if the phone is in the other room I can answer the call on my Ipad. And it gets data so I can use it on long drives. Its. A little slow, but ok for me.
my DH loves his mini and uses it exactly how you describe. he even plays some hefty games on it, and does watch the occasional movie or tv show. he does wear reading glasses but well, he does for most things.
he doesnt use a keyboard, but he does love his dollar store stylus. i got him a decent case for it that flips into a stand and he uses that frequently.
its the wi-fi only one and i’ve never heard him complain of lack of service–he typically always has access.
the price was very right. its small, it easily fits in his bag and he doesnt mind the size of the screen at all.
it actually gets much more use than his phone.
its all in personal preference—play with each and make your decision.