ipad2 v. ipad mini?
 

I am leaning toward the ipad2 for the bigger screen, but it looks like the mini has some updated features & spec. What I can't figure out is whether these updates would be useful. The primary user would be my 7-year old who mostly plays games, watches youtube via wifi, and to download movies for airplane viewing.

Anybody who has tried both?

With EPP discount I can get the ipad2 for $379, no discount on the $329 mini.

Bring him to a store that has both and let him play around a bit. For a seven year old, the mini may be totally fine for him. The ipad may be a bit too big for him, he may not be able to hold it in one hand for example with his smaller hands.

I bet he will want the mini.

I suspect the mini would be better (smaller, lighter for smaller hands).

Go for the mini
 

I recently gave my iPad2 to hubby and got the mini....haven't regretted it for a minute. Can't imagine going back to what now seems like a big clunky tablet. I think your 7-year-old would find the mini much easier to manage.

I actually swapped a new gen iPad out for the Mini. Love the ergonomics. Accessories are plentiful, and it supports the smart covers (which I love). It won't disappoint.

I'll probably get a Mini when they are updated with the Retina display.

ipad2 v. ipad mini?
 

I prefer the mini. Ipad too big to carry around

With the coming iOS update, the Mini will have some features that the iPad 2 won't. That may already be true with the current iOS. I love my iPad 2, but it is over a year old, and seems sluggish from time to time.

I have iPad 2 and it is too big to carry. I'd go with the mini.

I had the opportunity to try both and prefer the portability of the mini .....

My 7yrs old loves the iPad Mini we got him for X'mas. The only problem is my wife also loves it, so they are fighting over it. My wife wants one for Mother's Day but I told her to wait for the Retina Display version. :p

Everyone I knows who owned both the iPad 2 and the Mini said the Mini is better. Just look above... EVERY reply said the Mini! LOL I have never seen anything so one sided. :p

I have both, I'd get the ipad mini in a heartbeat over the ipad 2. The smaller form factor is perfect.

Here here. I actually put my iPad Mini back in the mail for return to Amazon yesterday. The resolution was _that_ bad. Granted, my other two primary iDevices are a MacBook Retina and the iPhone 5, so I'm used to a more vivid screen - but wow, I forgot the screen on an iPad 2 looked so poor. As others have stated, the size and weight are just right. Perfect for travel. Did find the WiFi antenna lacking, though.

I'm toting the 7 inch Coby MID7065-8 around right now. It's heavy and bezeled beyond belief, but with an expandable memory slot, HDMI, decent resolution (better than the Mini, IMO, if just by a hair,) and strongish performance -- plus, at $120 it really can't be beat.

iPad Mini is 1024x768, the Coby is 1024x600 - which IMHO is really too low for a current gen device.

Well, my Coby (the 7 inch one) does ... but the 8 inch model, which is more comparable to the 7.9 inch Mini has 1024 x 768 too. I haven't played with it personally, so can't say for sure how the two stack up in that regard.

I will note, however, that the Mini only has 163 PPI (same as the 7 in. Coby, and less than Kindle Fire HD / Nexus 7 / Nook HD) which might ultimately be what turned me off from its screen.

Just bought the ipad mini 16G. A little concerned that the memory will not be fit for purpose (TV/movie downloads for offline viewing on planes) but it does have a 14-day free return so I guess I can test it.

I would never buy a Coby - cheap crap that breaks quickly IME - you get what you pay for. My vintage macbook and iPod Touch 1G are still alive and running well so I'm pretty impressed with Apple hardware longevity, if not the OS planned obsolescence.

Thanks to everyone for your assistance!

I much prefer my Mini to the full sized iPad. 16GB is fine, but you will have to go to the effort of managing memory more often. So, no movies or games on the device, that you don't actually need at the moment. In that respect, I was more comfortable with the 32GB model.

sold my ipad 3 on ebay and got the mini!! LOVE it!! so portable, and great for me when i am showing prooduct and surgery videos--one of my best purchases ever!^

My employer bought my department iPad 3's with Verizon LTE data plans. It's a great travel companion but I really want to figure out a way to swap over to an LTE equipped Mini when it gets retina. The lack of the retina display is a deal breaker for me on the current Mini.

Can you still buy Ipad2? Here we are onto Ipad4 and the MINI.

U.S. apple.com store has the 2nd/3rd generations selling as 'refurbished'.

If you are US-based and near a retail MicroCenter store, check them out - (brand new, I believe) iPad2 16GB WiFi only (black or white) are only going for $360 with same warranty vs. $pple retail pricing of $399 for FRU - the 32GB models and 3G ones are no longer widely available unless you look on #Bay & other channels.

I still play with Mrs. L's iPad2 every so often and use it to stream live TV over fiber on the side while working out of home office, but I would probably go get a Mini with its smaller 7.9" screen as it's easier to carry (with tradeoffs :rolleyes: and storage capacity being other variables)

Could be tough to have Retina display for the Mini this year.

The new MacBook Airs that just came out do not have Retina display because Apple probably wanted to boost the battery life more than offer a sharper display.

They probably will want to maintain the battery life for the Mini and a Retina display, at this point, will probably prevent that goal.

You can't really compare tablets to laptops in terms of battery life. If the next Mini doesn't have a retina display I doubt battery life will be the reason. When the iPad 3 got the retina display Apple nearly doubled the size of the battery to get the desired battery life.

I have the mini with 64gb and wifi only.

I've used about 18gb of that space with 315 songs, 2 audiobooks,
1 movie, couple of Kindle books and a bunch of apps so far.

For me the mini is a great size as I take it with me on trips primarily
for entertainment. For me, it beats the Kindle in that it offers me a
variety of entertainment options for not that much bigger a package.

To the OP, I am an athletic male in my late 20s. Holding the regular ipad 3 playing games & watching movies has tired my arms and wrists out during long use. I find myself changing positions a lot just to compensate for the tired extremities. Please go with the mini. Although I must say I don't know how much heavier the 3 is from the 2 but it is indeed heavier. My next tablet will be a mini or similar size Android.

So far the Mini is great - my kids love it and it's lightning fast compared with my older iPad2. The only issue is the 16G memory which appears insufficient to store more than a couple of movies - we are almost maxed out with 2x10 TV episodes (1/2 hour) plus one 90min movie. I may return it for the 32G model.

Awesome. I really don't like the way Apple gouges its customers on extra memory, but that extra 16GB should help quite a bit. The extra 16GB is reasonably clear, so that's quite a few extra movies (8 assuming a rough estimate of 2GB per HD movie).

I have a 64 GB iPad mini and I hardly have any room on it for movies, thanks to several "memory hog" games and apps. :mad:

For watching movies and TV shows on a plane, I use a 16GB nook HD equipped with a 64GB microSD card. The nook HD has a higher screen resolution than the iPad mini and at its current price of $149, the nook HD's a pretty good deal. :cool: