Shawn Blanc gives his take on the dilemma many of us are confronted with when it comes to purchasing an iPad.
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I bought both an iPad Air and an iPad mini when they came out. I planned to use them side by side for about one month to see if I could come to a clear conclusion about “which was really the best”. I assumed it would take just a few weeks to see the obvious choice of which one I was partial to.
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But, most of the time I find myself preferring the iPad mini. When reaching for an iPad around the house, I grab the mini. The mini goes with me when I’m traveling with my laptop. And I bring the mini when I don’t expect to need an iPad for anything but want to bring one anyway just in case.
There is only one cut and dry scenario in which I prefer the iPad Air: and that is for writing (with or without a bluetooth keyboard). But, yet, writing accounts for maybe 10-percent of my iPad usage. And using the iPad mini for writing is not exactly a horrible experience.
I have no reason to keep them both. (Well, I guess it’d be nice to have a day iPad and a night iPad.) And so I’m going with the iPad mini. And thus my recommendation to anyone on the fence: get the iPad mini, you’ll love it.
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Unfortunately I wasn’t in the position to purchase both iPads to carry out a comprehensive four-week comparison. Nevertheless, I’m in total agreement with Blanc’s opinion that the iPad mini is the way to go. I found the iPad mini (with Retina Display) to be really light and super portable. More importantly, I don’t miss the extra display you get on a 9.7-inch iPad.