And so it Begins: See what Reviewers have to say about iPad Mini

It’s kind of funny, really… Apple announces a new device like the iPad Mini, and right after the keynote presentation wraps up, the media goes to work figuring out why we don’t need the product and how it goes to show they’ve gone off the rails as a company… And then the first reviews start coming in, and wouldn’t you know, they are overwhelmingly positive.

So far, we’ve heard from people like Jim Dalrymple of The Loop, John Gruber of Daring Fireball, Tim Stevens of Engadget, and many more… What do they have to say? Mostly, that their expectations about the iPad Mini were wrong, and that it’s form factor offers something quite valuable. From Dalrymple’s review:

“I was wrong. I have wondered publicly whether or not a smaller tablet would fit into my workflow and even suggested the larger iPad would be better. I was wrong…”

Regardless of it’s $329 price tag, the iPad Mini has enough of an edge over the competition that The Verge’s Joshua Topolsky thinks Apple can sell this thing:

“… something tells me it’s no accident that this tablet isn’t selling for $200. It doesn’t feel like Apple is racing to some lowest-price bottom—rather it seems to be trying to raise the floor.”

Along with praising the overall construction of the gadget, reviewers seem to be whole-heartedly embracing Apple’s claim that the iPad Mini isn’t a scaled-down version of the full-size iPad. Instead, it’s something different—and not necessarily lesser—than its larger counterpart… The main concern raised by reviewers was in regards to no Retina Display—a feature that will probably show up in a future generation.

We’ll let Harry McCracken of TIME have the final word in excerpt form:

“… If your budget’s got more wiggle room, the iPad Mini is the best compact-sized tablet on the market. Apple didn’t build yet another bargain-basement special; it squeezed all of the big iPad’s industrial-design panache, software polish and third-party apps, and most of its technology, into a smaller thinner, lighter, lower-priced model. The result may be a product in a category of one—but I have a hunch it’s going to be an awfully popular category.”

About the Author

Devin Wieland

 

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