Yesterday, we had a sandwich party at the office to discuss some of the future prospects on the northern isles (ala Game of Thrones); When I came in, my boss’ daughter was there and she had her iPad Mini with her fresh from HK which they were able to get a hold of just the day after it was shipped there. Of course it was a chance for me to snap away at it and somehow compare it to my first generation Transformer.
With an 7.9 inch screen at a letterbox format, its size is nearer towards 2/3rds of the 10” Transformer
It’s also just about half as thick as the TF100 and is ultimately lighter in comparison… of course the real contender should be the Nexus but since I dont have one this’ll just have to provide enough perspective.
Now it is advertised that the iPad Mini can be held with one hand and operated but while this is true, holding it in such a manner, supporting both sides, is likely to strain eventually. What follows are some photos of the top (with the power button and headphone jack), side (with the volume rocker and orientation lock) and bottom (with the lightning connection and speaker grilles) of the device:
Here’s a side by side with the TF100 displaying a wall of text in an attempt to show how much difference the Retina display has over the first generation IPS:
You cant really tell at this distance but a 100% crop shows that the display on the iPad Mini certainly has more detail compared. Its supposed to be black text on white background in this shot and there is a bit of color difference which cannot be attributed to the brightness setting either.
Current market prices make the iPad Mini a very viable piece of equipment especially for those just getting into the tablet scene. It can do everything expected of the iPad in a smaller display that is thinner and lighter than its bretheren. The choice right now really only rests on which operating system the user would choose to go with… as well as if he/she is looking for accessories to go with the device where the clear contender would be the one from Apple’s lineup as there are tons of manufacturers making compatible sleeves, cases, covers, and knick knacks.
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