# Any Suggestions For My Next Device Toy Purchase?



## RiverMan (Feb 17, 2013)

Getting a lot of great info here in the forum as I look to pull the trigger on an Ipad purchase from the vast assortment available. I've been getting by with a pandigital device (from the Cretaceous period if I recall), and I'm looking for any input that would help me decide.

Don't want to be jumping from one apple release to another so I want something that's going to solve my needs for the next few years anyway.
It sounds like the *Mini* would be the best choice so tell me if you think that won't do.

Obviously I want something good for reading the kindle books. I'm hearing that the resolution is good and that's important to me. I'm wondering if it would be a suitable _*substitute for a smart phone*_ so I don't have to upgrade to iPhone 5.

I would want to use it for M Office word and excell from time to time. How's the internet wifi speed with this little pup?

I don't need it for games except when my 13 year old pesters me into submission.

I like to create videos using various file formats so would need some processing power under the hood. How is the video camera?
Also would want to use it for my own kindlebook author needs so a keyboard accessory would be wanted.

I could go on.... but knowing the mini would keep me happily plodding along with these would work....any input would be welcome
thanx


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## NightReader (Apr 25, 2010)

Mini resolution is good, but not great.  If you are going to be doing a lot of video work (where color gamut is really important for instance), you might be better off with an iPad 4.  

Not sure what you mean about using it instead of a smart phone.  

iPad mini does everything I expect it to do NOW, but with only half the RAM of it's big brother, I have doubts that it will still be able to do everything 5 years down the road.  On the other hand, you got this far on your pre-historic PanDigital, so maybe you'll be able to nurse it along down the road.


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## kwajkat (Nov 6, 2008)

Having almost all the toys since I do presentations and classes on tablets, my preferred toys of choice are the ipads. I have the full size ipad as well as the mini. I use my mini the most due to the size and weight.  While the resolution is good (same as ipad2 but in smaller size), it isn't like the retinas. However the next mini due out late summer/Oct will have the retina display.  While my mini is good for reading I do find the screen to be a bit small or docs etc at times although you can adjust the screen like the others to enlarge. The disadvantage to that is you are moving the screen around more than you would with the full size ipad.   I watch movies on it, play some games but use it primarily for reading my kindle books.

As for speed I find it equals the larger ipads. Of course that will depend on what you are doing with it. Yes the ipad 4 has the faster A6 processor so you would notice the difference between the two. The mini has the same processor as the other ipads.  Unless you plan to play the higher end games that require faster speeds for the graphics, you should be very happy with the mini.

If you are planning on doing stuff that require the external keyboard you might be better off with the ipad 4. Zagg makes a really nice keyboard that is backlit and acts as a case as well. As for videos, other than watching them, the larger ipad would be a better choice. I think the smaller size might bother you after awhile. It is good for carrying around but actually working on it doing what you want to do is better on a larger screen or laptop then transferring it over to the mini. The cameras on the ipads are a bit better than other devices, they still are not as good as a regular camera.

If you are also looking at androids, the Nexus 10 can't be beat. It is fast, and is not bogged down with bloatware like the other androids.

You can do a search on comparing tablets and visit some of the forums for more info.


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## mooshie78 (Jul 15, 2010)

No MS Office programs on IOS.  Plenty of other options like Apples suite, Docs 2 Go etc.--but none are 100% compatible to with the MS programs on PC and sometimes change fonts, mess up formatting etc.  So if you really want full compatibility with MS programs you might want to look into a MS Surface tablet.

I'd also find the mini screen too small for working with documents.  The main reason I went with iPad over other tablets as it's the only 10" or so screen that's a 4:3 ratio (rather than 16:9 widescreen) so it's the best I could find for document work--especially reading letter sized PDFs which I do a ton of for work.  I have had the iPad 2 for a couple years now and still love it and use it daily for work (reading PDFs of research articles primarily) and leisure (newspapers, net surfing, some games).


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## kwajkat (Nov 6, 2008)

There are several IOS options for Office. One is Polaris Office which allows you to view and edit office docs. There are others as well.


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## Leanne King (Oct 2, 2012)

Zagg do a couple of keyboard cases for the iPad Mini too, one is the same size as their full size iPad keyboard. Aslso Logitech have announced a mini version of their well reviewed iPad keyboard case. I've got one on pre-order, will see how it works out.

I posted in the other thread how great I think the mini is. I upgraded from an original iPad and can't see myself going back to that size, the mini just feels right. It's used 24 hours a day in this house, for reading, writing, playing, watching, listening, surfing, and more. However, if you are very resolution sensitive, I'd recommend going and seeing one in a store first, as I know some people find the lack of retina jarring after using a higher resolution display. 

As to Office, all the rumours point to an official version for iPad within the next few months. Some smart analyst worked out how many billions of dollars MS are losing by not offering one, and Ballmer didn't deny one was in the works.


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## mooshie78 (Jul 15, 2010)

HarryDayle said:


> As to Office, all the rumours point to an official version for iPad within the next few months. Some smart analyst worked out how many billions of dollars MS are losing by not offering one, and Ballmer didn't deny one was in the works.


The rumors seemed to quite down a bit with the announcement and release of their Surface tablets. Having those be the only thing with official MS office apps is a big selling point, so I'm guessing we won't see MS office apps on Android or iOS unless the Surface fails. Which is likely. But we'll have to wait and see either way.

I should clarify my above post. For the writers on here, most any of the office suites on iPad or Android will be fine. If you're just creating text then that's easy to convert back and forth between the app and office on a PC or Mac without any issues. I just have problems since I'm writing research articles full of tables, figures and equations, so I have to be able to do that easily and not worry about format getting wrecked when going back and forth so it's pretty much a no go right now.

Honestly though, I'm not that interested in writing on a tablet. I have a work-provided Dell XPS 13 (basically their version of the Mac Air) and I'm fine taking both that and my iPad for working when traveling etc. as combined they weight less than my prior Thinkpad laptop.


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

With my iPad 3, I use QuickOffice and for keyboard the Apple wireless keyboard with Origami case and stand. http://store.apple.com/us/product/H6353ZM/A/incase-origami-workstationThe benefit of this is I don't have to replace the keyboard and case when I upgrade my iPad (i started with the iPad 1, then the 3)


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