ipad Mini (retina) or regular iPad?

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

It's a big deal for me because I already do use many of those apps, and the many of the ones I don't use aren't used in many cases because my current first generation doesn't support them. I'm glad that GarageBand is still free. That's a very powerful app. And I'm glad they added Pages to the free lineup. It's no Microsoft Office such as you'd get on the new Surface Pro, but it does allow you a bit more flexibility with creating and reading documents than you'll find on other tablets. I paid $9.99 for the version I have on my iPad 1.

And Calendar, which has always been free, is a great way to keep track of important dates. For example, I'm using it now to count down the days until I retire. (Have I mentioned that as of today, October 23, 2013, there are only 73 days remaining before it's Take This Job and Shove It time?)

Here's a link describing all the iPad Air's built-in apps: http://www.apple.com/ipad-air/built-in-apps/.

Yes, it looks like Apple is more concerned with Microsoft than Android. They are offering the competing office suite to MS office for real work, not just movie viewing and picture viewing, but of course they have those too.

Dale

[tubemonkey]

I only use tablets for consumption of media. I don't use office apps of any kind, nor do I manipulate documents. Opening a PDF file is a rarity for me. I have a calendar app, but only use it to look up dates; it doesn't contain any information. I don't even have an address/contact list. As to email, I use the web based stuff (gmail, hotmail, etc). Even then, I only read it and never compose it.

My tablets are mostly used for watching videos, listening to music and audiobooks, surfing the web, reading magazines, playing games, and checking out library books to be read on my K4S. Occasionally, I'll read an email.

Tablets are for fun; home computers are for fun and personal business; and work computers are for work. I never mix the three. When I leave work, I totally forget about it until I go back. Work never follows me home.

[Faterson]

Tablets are perfectly suitable for work, and I've been using iPad 1 for (also) work since Day 1 back in 2010. I also heavily use iPhone for work-related purposes.

However, Apple's software as a rule is lousy; the iOS default apps have always been ridiculous from the point of view of their limited functionality (which is why I never bought the original iPhone), and as of iOS 7, Apple's default apps now also look absolutely hideous.

Fortunately, there's a huge amount of 3rd-party iOS apps to take care of that. I use DocsToGo for office files on iOS; integration with Dropbox is a must for me especially for cross-platform compatibility, but Apple's office suite does not provide it, so that Pages/Numbers/Keynote is worthless for me. But then, I'm used to Apple's software being worthless and ugly.

Here again, though, one can see the advantage of the iOS environment over Android: I just can't find anything as good as DocsToGo on iOS in the Android environment. Although there is DocsToGo for Android, it's totally inferior compared to DocsToGo for iOS. The Kingston Office suite for Android is impressive for free software, but is likewise inferior in its interface usability compared to DocsToGo for iOS.

This is typical when you compare 3rd-party apps between iOS and Android. The iPads' biggest advantage over Android has nothing to do with Apple, but with the universe of great apps created by 3rd-party iOS developers.

[Josieb1]

I also use my iPad 3 for office work, using both pages and numbers. I can do everything with my iPad except use Calibre.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by Faterson

This is typical when you compare 3rd-party apps between iOS and Android. The iPads' biggest advantage over Android has nothing to do with Apple, but with the universe of great apps created by 3rd-party iOS developers.

The most important app I have is called Documents, it's by Readdle. It doesn't exist for Android and I literally can't have a tablet without it. That's why I will always have, and need, an iPad, regardless of its price.

I do have a basic Android tablet that I use mainly for reading on but the lack of some crucial apps in the Android market, plus the ease of use of iOS, keeps me with Apple.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

I do have a basic Android tablet that I use mainly for reading on but the lack of some crucial apps in the Android market, plus the ease of use of iOS, keeps me with Apple.

Since my must have apps are available in both Android and iOS versions, I'm free to buy tablets based on features and price; which means Android always wins out.

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

I do have a basic Android tablet that I use mainly for reading on but the lack of some crucial apps in the Android market, plus the ease of use of iOS, keeps me with Apple.

Same here, at least for now. However, if Apple's market/user share declines significantly over time, due to their "luxury pricing", it can be expected that the situation will reverse: that more and higher-quality apps will become available for Android than for iOS. I believe that's exactly what eventually happened to Windows versus Mac OS.

I agree Documents by Readdle is a fantastic free app, and I use it -- basically as my "cloud files manager" -- on all of my iDevices. It only offers basic functionality, though; for example, no editing of files, no advanced display of PDF files, etc.

I am even more impressed by some of the other Readdle apps. My favourites are Calendars 5 (my replacement for Apple's default lame iOS Calendar) and Scanner Pro (using this up to scan even entire books to read is a breeze!). PDF Expert is also impressive in its iPad version, but its iPhone version lacks elementary functionality, which is why I'm sticking with GoodReader for reading and especially annotating PDF files on iOS.

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by Canuck_in_Japan

Thinking about getting my first iPad this new gen (despite my Apple hatred). I'm wondering whether to go the iPad mini or regular iPad route. The mini, assuming it is retina, appeals to me because the price as it is now is much cheaper than the regular iPad which means that I could get a 32GB for less than the price of a regular 16GB. Of course the portability and light weight of the mini also appeals to me. The regular iPad on the other hand would have lots of screen real estate which is always a great thing, especially for playing boardgames and whatnot. Will there be a difference in horsepower between the two? Will the regular iPad have any other advantages over the mini other than a larger screen? If you were going to get a new iPad which one would you go for and why?

My personal experience: I have tried both and I prefer the larger iPad, even if it's heavier and bulkier to carry around. I even tried using both, the mini at work and the iPad 3 at home, but it just doesn't work for me. Too many of my apps don't have sync or mess it up regularly, plus to sync you need to open each app while online. I use my iPad a lot on the underground train where there's no reception, so that's really not practical for me.

If there was no sync problem I would probably keep using both as I said, because the mini is lighter and smaller, I don't have to have a specially large handbag to carry it, and I can even use it to read standing on the train, with the iPad held in only one hand. That's something I can't do with the big one.

But since I have to choose between the two, it's the big iPad. I don't want to lose the comfort of the larger screen when playing, writing or drawing.

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Since my must have apps are available in both Android and iOS versions, I'm free to buy tablets based on features and price; which means Android always wins out.

The trouble is, even if a "must-have app" is available on Android, it doesn't mean it will offer the same level of quality as the same app in iOS. My "must-have office app" in iOS is DocsToGo, but I find DocsToGo for Android unusable. Kingston Office on Android is clunky compared to DocsToGo on iOS. If anyone can offer me a good tip for office software on Android, I will appreciate that. (Google's own QuickOffice is worthless.)

The same issue for PDFs... I have purchased ezPDF Reader, likely the best PDF software on Android, but it appears to me that it lags behind GoodReader, the best PDF software on iOS.

I use Nebulous Notes as my "Dropbox text editor" on iOS, but I can't find a comparably smart app on Android.

Finally, and most relevantly for MobileRead, I can't find anything as good as Marvin on iOS on Android. Moon+ Pro Reader is outstanding, but not quite as good as Marvin.

These types of comparisons -- at least as of October 2013 -- almost always tend to favour iOS over Android. The situation may change in later years if Apple's user base starts shrinking significantly due to the "luxury pricing". Android devices keep getting cheaper and cheaper, without the quality of those devices being significantly impacted, while iOS devices remain priced the same -- which is bad enough -- or even experience a huge price increase (which is certainly an anomaly), as has just happened to iPad mini Retina.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Faterson

The trouble is, even if a "must-have app" is available on Android, it doesn't mean it will offer the same level of quality as the same app in iOS. My "must-have office app" in iOS is DocsToGo, but I find DocsToGo for Android unusable. Kingston Office on Android is clunky compared to DocsToGo on iOS. If anyone can offer me a good tip for office software on Android, I will appreciate that. (Google's own QuickOffice is worthless.)

True enough; but in my case, I'm pleased with the Android offerings.

My must have apps include: Audible, Amazon MP3, Netflix, OverDrive, AOL Radio, LibriVox Audio Books, TuneIn Radio, Pandora, Kindle, Nook, Zinio, Pulse, YouTube, Xfinity Player, Angry Birds, Google Play Music, SanDisk Memory Zone, Chrome, etc.

As you can see, I don't use productivity apps.

[Faterson]

Right; it's nice that it works out fine for you. The Kindle app would be a good example for me, though, at least back in 2012 (before Marvin release) when I was still attempting to use it. I found the Kindle app on Android distinctly inferior compared to Kindle on iOS. In fact, Kindle was unusable on my previous Android tablet of those days (running 4.0 ICS): the settings buttons were inaccessible. A number of us had the same issue on a variety of Android tablets, but nothing could be done about it. Several support tickets were lodged with Amazon, and a thread on the issue was opened in their support forum, but the issue remained unresolved for many months across a number of Kindle for Android updates. The issue was not so much as acknowledged by Amazon. After Marvin for iOS appeared, I got p****d off at Amazon for good, gave away all my hardware Kindle devices, deleted the Kindle app from both my iPad and Android tablets, and switched over to Marvin full-time. I am intensely missing Marvin on Android, as I'm missing the Mailbox app there, the Toodledo app (both essential for me), etc. etc.

[tubemonkey]

I use the the Kindle and Nook apps to read short stories. I set the background to sepia and leave everything else at default settings.

When it comes to reading, I'm easy to please

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Faterson

...I use DocsToGo for office files on iOS....

Does DocsToGo open faster than Pages? I find Pages adequate for creating docs but very slow to open on my iPad 1. And when I say very slow picture the word 'very' being said in a dragged out, sarcastic manner that if written would require at least four 'e's and three 'r's.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

The most important app I have is called Documents, it's by Readdle....

Hi, Josieb1. Same question: Does Documents open faster than Pages?

EDIT: Nevermind. I see Documents and Pages are Apples and filing systems. I was thinking Documents was a document creating app.

[Josieb1]

Documents is a downloading into app, that's why it's so important to me. It's the only way I can visit a site on safari, buy a mobi ebook, download it into Documents and email it to Amazon. If I try to download it via any other app or safari i can only open the ebook into the Kindle app. I don't want to read it there, I want to read it on my ereader.

I'd be lost without Documents.