TECH SPOTLIGHT

Apple iPad Mini pros: speed and smart-aleck Siri; cons: price and camera

The iPad Mini (right) provides the abilities of a standard iPad, but in a smaller and thinner package.
The iPad Mini (right) provides the abilities of a standard iPad, but in a smaller and thinner package.

— I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a wonderful Black Friday.

Those who haven’t completed their shopping yet (like me) might be interested in a few more tech gadgets. I’ll spend the next few weeks trying out devices that would make good gifts for your favorite tech geek.

I thought I’d start out with a recently announced gadget that has several of my friends, and even my mother, curious. It’s the Apple iPad Mini.

I’ve been trying out Apple’s 64GB Wi-Fi-only version. The Mini also comes with 16GB or 32GB of internal memory, and all sizes come in Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi+Cellular. The latter can be used with AT&T, Verizon or Sprint cellular accounts (though extra charges may apply, so check with your cellular carrier). The Mini also offers a choice of black or white.

The Mini is very similar to the standard iPad, down to the buttons and the new “Lightning” charging and synching port. The difference is the size - the Mini is 7.87 inches tall, compared with 9.5 inches of the fourth-generation iPad. It’s also slightly thinner, 0.28 inches compared with the iPad, which is 0.37 inches thick.

The Mini has a dual-core A5 processor, which is slightly slower than the new iPad’s A6x chip. That doesn’t mean it’s slow. In fact, the Mini is pretty speedy. Apps open quickly, and it’s very easy to surf the Web on this device.

The differences pretty much end there. The iPad Mini, like its big brother, includes a 5-megapixel back camera and a 1.2-megapixel front camera for video calling or chat. The Mini is capable of connecting wirelessly via Bluetooth, which makes it compatible with AirPrint printers and many audio and cellular devices. Like the full iPad, the Mini claims to have up to 10 hours of battery life. In all honesty, the battery should last about 8-9 hours. It did for me, at least.

The iPad Mini also includes Siri, Apple’s voice-con-trolled assistant. Siri works on the Mini much like on the iPhones - ask a question, and you get an answer. Siri interpreted my words correctly about 75-80 percent of the time, and usually she was very helpful. She also could be a bit of a smart aleck if you are to her. Frankly, I like that feature best.

The Mini does have its advantages. Being smaller and lighter makes it more portable, easier to store and easier to hold for longer periods. I figured it would be harder to type on the Mini’s smaller keyboard, but I really didn’t have any issues. In fact, the Mini was just as easy to use as its larger counterpart.

I have the same complaint with the iPad Mini that I do with the iPad: the camera. Its 5 megapixels is on par with the iPad but well below the 8-megapixel camera found on the iPhone. Also, the Mini lacks a flash, so taking decent pictures in low light is next to impossible. I say, go all the way with it or don’t bother. Yes, it’s great to have a camera on the Mini, but add a flash so it can be used somewhere than just outside in broad daylight. I’ve heard people argue that the iPad really isn’t used for photos. I’ve actually seen them used to take pictures, on more than one occasion. I can live with the current camera, but it sure would be nice to have the iPhone’s 8-megapixel camera and flash in the Mini.

My only other issue is the price. Yes, $329 for the base model of the Wi-Fi only version is OK, but $299 would be a lot more appealing. That would put it a full $200 below the full-size iPad. Just add that to my wish list.

The Mini delivers on justwhat it promises to be - a smaller version of the iPad. It offers the same Internet and app capabilities. It’s a little easier to handle because of its size. While I think the price could be a tiny bit lower, it’s still low enough to make it tempting for those who aren’t quite ready to fork over $500 for a base-model iPad.

So if your relatives are asking for an iPad, they probably won’t be disappointed with the iPad Mini, since the two products are so similar. If they’re not really interested in a tablet computer, well, I’ll just dig through the goody sack and bring you another suggestion next week.

Melissa L. Jones can be reached via e-mail at mljones72@me.com.

Where it’s @

The Apple iPad Mini comes in configurations of Wi-Fi only or Wi-Fi+Cellular, with internal memory sizes of 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. The Wi-Fi only models retail for $329, $429 and $529 respectively. The Wi-Fi+Cellular models retail for $459, $559 and $659. More information is available at www.apple.com/ipad.

Business, Pages 21 on 11/26/2012

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