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The two very nice tablets, the iPad mini with retina display and the iPad air, have very identical specs. The only differences are their price and screen sizes. The iPad air having a 9.7 inch screen at $499 and the iPad mini with retina display having a 7.9 inch screen at $399. So it all depends on if you want a larger more expensive screen or if you want a more portable cheaper screen.
One more benefit is if you can speak in a normal voice you can use the Apple voice recognition system. All you have to do is tap on the microphone logo just to the left of the spacebar when the keyboard appears and begin speaking in a normal voice. It does make mistakes, but I find it relatively easy to correct. For example, I am dictating this entire post on my iPad air.
Between that and the ability to borrow books from my public library on my iPad, I find owning an iPad to be almost essential.
Tossing in, I have a mini Retina (second gen.) and I love it. For me, it's all about the size. I want the smaller e-reader-size to make it more comfortable to hold it one hand.
I have a $12 bluetooth keyboard I've got on it, also, to make it more user-friendly.
Thanks itsMeFred! That's what it has come down to for me -- which is most comfortable to hold for an extended period of time.
I played with both at Best Buy (since that's the only store we could find nearby (no Apple Store around) that had touchable iPads - most were under glass cases like Snow White). I'll go with the Air if Santa can find a case like football coaches have that has an adjustable strap into which I can stick my hand, and if he can't find that, I'll go with the Mini.
So everyone - I like both, but my preference is the Air simply because of the bigger screen, but the Mini is OK, too. Anything smaller than that (an iPhone for example) wouldn't work for me and my project.
I was so surprised to find that I don't believe the learning curve is going to be as steep as I thought for this technology-challenged person. Within a few minutes standing there in Best Buy I figured out how to adjust the "keyboard", to increase the font size, to turn on the vertical/horizontal feature (whatever it's called to be able to hold the device vertically or horizontally and the screen automatically flips).
Thank you everyone for your input! And TJ the American Black Bear thanks you, too. Believe it or not it took a bear to pull me into the 21st century (something my family couldn't do :-). TJ will be getting a new exhibit area at our zoo, and using an Apple App we will be observing him before/during/after construction to see what he thinks and how he behaves. The best part is that the new exhibit will be grand enough to bring in a Mrs. TJ -- he's going to love that!
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