Hey.. (Newbie) iPad mini or iPad 2? coming from a bag of alsorts!

[mafu6]

Let me start of by saying hello

I have been a member of mobile nations for some time now. I am a registered member on all the mobile nations websites and this is my first time I have come to the iMore site.

I have been a bit of an apple basher previously and I wont try and hide the fact (you can search the other mobile nations forums). But to be fair I don't really know why. I have never had an iPad or an iPhone of any sort, though I did have a iPod many moons ago which I did have a pretty bad experience with, which is probably where my apple bashing comes from. But today I have decided to stop that and come and maybe give the iPad a go!

Let me tell you a little about my smartphone history. My first smartphone was a HTC Hero on Android 1.6 after moving from a feature phone Sony Ericson. I didn't have the phone that long before I moved onto the HTC Google Nexus One, which I bought outright imported from the USA, from their my love for Android grew and at the time it was a massive underdog. Being British I tend to root for the underdog. Anyway I stayed with that phone until it died on me, long story short, children water and phones don't generally mix. I then went through all kinds of phones in this order.HTC Desire, another Google Nexus One but was bored if that now so i switched to the Blackberry Torch 9800. Compared to the UI of Android, Blackberry lets just say didn't fit into my life, then off to a Windows Phone 7 Samsung Omnia 7 which was fresh but lacked the main apps that i had grew to love, the next part was a bit of a weird turn following my last comment but i jumped onto webOS wagon with the hype of HP taking it over, That was an excellent OS and to this day the fluidity of the whole thing was/is amazing but once again after a few months the app monster inside of me decided to switch finally back to Android on the Google Nexus S. I stayed with the Google Nexus S for over a year before it died on me and the contract sim i had been lugging around with all these phones came to an end. I had been away for the last couple of months of it and found some spare time to research into my next phone. I found myself interested in WP8 with all sorts of promises coming from Microsoft. I am a Microsoft PC User. And with the Surface RT coming out i found myself drawn to both the Surface and a WP8. I eventually splashed out on a Surface RT and a Nokia Lumia 920. While both devices are well built solid and have a quality premium type feel, I think the app monster in me is starting to make noises again. But this time instead of running back to android I am willing to make a unexpected jump across to iOS. A lot of influence has been bestowed upon me from the other mobile nations forums and to be fair I can see the point of some of them with competitors surpassing Apple in the innovation departments but the facts are that Apple has a popular product. And for something to be successful it has to be popular. With iOS having more apps (sorry android most of yours are Theme changers etc) and probably better quality ones I feel i might try an Apple device.

Now after all that history and a little explanation I don't know which to go for. Do i go for the iPad 2 or the iPad mini? I am short of cash at the moment to buy either device outright so my only option is to get one on a data plan. If i am getting one on a data plan and entering a 24 month contract then i don't really wanna get left behind in the updates world (That's what i loved about having a Nexus device) So should I get the iPad 2? Will the support for this go on for much longer as we are now on the 4th iPad or should i get the iPad mini? I am fully aware that their is going to probably be a new iPad mini with Retina display in the coming months but to be honest after comparing the displays of my mates iPad with Retina and my Surface i cant really tell the difference for normal day to day use. I wont be using the device for work related tasks as that's what the Surface is for.

Let me know your thoughts and yes if you want to dis me for never actually trying an apple product (minus the iPod classic) I can take it!

 

[Fausty82]

First of all, welcome to the iMore site. We’re glad to have you!

You’re asking a valid question, but your timing is not the best. Apple will be releasing new tablets in the coming year, and the rumors concerning timeframes range from March to October. That said, and if I "had to" buy today, I’d definitely go with the Mini. I’ve had each of Apple's tablets except the 4th gen iPad along the way (Original, iPad 2, The New iPad (3rd gen) and the Mini). The Mini is my current iPad (passed the others down to family members)... and my favorite. It offers everything the iPad 2 does, but in a smaller, lighter and cheaper package. I find it easily just as useful as a 10" tablet, but it just seems so much more portable.

I can’t say how long Apple will continue to support the iPad 2, but given that it’s the last non-retina screen model of the full-size tablet, maybe they will keep it around for a while. Then again, with the rumored smaller, lighter full size iPad with retina screen, and the rumored retina iPad Mini coming this year, maybe not. I guess you need to know Tim Cook and Jony Ive personally or have a crystal ball to know what Apple will do...

And to confirm your statement, I agree with regards to the iPad Mini with retina display. It will be nice... but I don’t miss the New iPad's (3rd gen) retina display on my Mini. I am perfectly content with my current Mini.

Good luck with your quest.

 

[mafu6]

Thanks for your advice. I think I might wait for the iPad mini with Retina display, this would push down the cost of the Original iPad mini then I can decide which one to get depending on the money I have saved, if any at all...

As mentioned before I have a Surface RT my children share a HP Touchpad (dual booting) and my Wife has a Nexus 7. I like the portability of the Nexus 7 but when you have been used to looking at the screen the size of the Surface and Touchpad then its all a little cramped. I know the iPad mini is larger than the Nexus 7 which is probably my happy medium. Can anyone tell me about app compatibility with iOS? I am well aware that Android and WP all have issues when trying to get apps for either the older or newer software. Does the same go with iOS? Are all apps compatible with iOS 5 and iOS 6?

 

[Fausty82]

Thanks for your advice. I think I might wait for the iPad mini with Retina display, this would push down the cost of the Original iPad mini then I can decide which one to get depending on the money I have saved, if any at all...

As mentioned before I have a Surface RT my children share a HP Touchpad (dual booting) and my Wife has a Nexus 7. I like the portability of the Nexus 7 but when you have been used to looking at the screen the size of the Surface and Touchpad then its all a little cramped. I know the iPad mini is larger than the Nexus 7 which is probably my happy medium. Can anyone tell me about app compatibility with iOS? I am well aware that Android and WP all have issues when trying to get apps for either the older or newer software. Does the same go with iOS? Are all apps compatible with iOS 5 and iOS 6?

Obviously, as iOS grows and adds new features, the apps written to that version can also offer more. Most all of the apps are forward compatible (meaning an app written for and released for iOS 5.x will continue to work with iOS 6.x, etc), there are features added to iOS that make some apps lose backwards compatibility.

That said, with few exceptions, even as Apple stops marketing a device, they continue to support it and offer iOS upgrades free of charge. I am not that well versed on how Android does its OS upgrades, but hear/read that the manufacturers/wireless companies have to support the upgrade. And that prevents some (many?) devices from being upgraded to the new version of Android. With iOS, that’s not the case. When Apple releases a new version of iOS, you can choose to upgrade or not... on the older devices, some features may be lacking (Siri on iPhone 3G/3GS/4, for example)... but you can still install the newest version of iOS and then run any apps written for that version.

Hope I answered your question.