Well, it’s a wrap.
After not even a month, the swap comes to an end. The final decision: My wife loves the iPad with it’s big 10″ Retina screen. She has used it far more than she ever used the mini, for just about everything. She carried it with her through PAX and has enjoyed having it available to her, just within reach at any time. So the question is, what do I think about the mini? It’s a bit more complicated than that. I’ve slowly gotten over the feeling that I’m going to break it, and that’s a good start. I really miss the Retina display. I don’t care much for the way it tends to crash apps a bit more often, making a couple even unplayable (XCom, for one – that one hurts). The screen still feels a bit small, but of course that’s just picking nits.
No, I’m stuck with the mini, and I don’t mind at all. I’d want one of each to run tests on apps with anyway, and overall I find it easy to carry, comfortable to use with a light weight and a comfortable size and shape to hold in one hand. The screen isn’t bad either: really the worst part of the display is the main windows themselves, as the icon text is a bit fuzzy to me. I carry it around even more than I did the iPad, which I didn’t believe was possible. The battery life is solid, and I’ve moved on from feeling like I’m going to leave it somewhere too. No, it’s not a bad deal at all.