back to article Hmm, I think I'll order an iPad Mini on Amazon ... Oh no I won't

Amazon has weighed into the tablet pooh-pooh battle, following Apple's blow by blow comparison with a Samsung Galaxy Tab during the iPad Mini launch last week. The gloves are off down at Tablet Club, and this time the iPad Mini is on the receiving end. Amazon is taking a direct swipe at Apple's littlest Pad with a point by …

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  1. Joerg
    FAIL

    Both products are a big fail.

    Android tablets are a shame. Waste of money.

    iPad Mini is just an outdated repackaged iPad 2.

    And Microsoft Surface Windows8 RT or Windows 8 x86 tablets just plain suck.

    iPad 4 is the only true tablet to buy right now.

    Whoever buys anything else is just wasting money on bad products.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Both products are a big fail.

      Well, it isn't like Apple wastes its profit on frivolous things like unseaworthy yachts for example.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Both products are a big fail.

        What do you think Amazon wastes their money on then? well, it isn't corporation tax that's for sure.

        1. kissingthecarpet
          FAIL

          Re: Both products are a big fail.

          Mind you, they're all as bad - & Amazon don't have the advantage of a dickhead HMRC boss giving away huge rebates like Vodafone do. The Vodafone episode made the UK look like mugs - Dave Hartnett the twat agreed an enormous tax break without any tax lawyers present .

          Private Eye have done some excellent articles on the fiasco.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Both products are a big fail.

            But Private Eye are just plain pig-ignorant. Vodafone paid the tax it was legally required to on German sales in Germany to German pundits. Quite why the UK taxman pushed by utter fuckwits like the "Tax Justice Network" thought they had any chance of claiming additional tax is kind of hard to see.

            Great meme, greedy corporate doesn't pay the taxes we think that they should pay so we can waste it on buying votes, but utterly dishonest.

      2. Lars Silver badge
        FAIL

        Re: Both products are a big fail.

        Please, the boat is awful but built with Jobs money, he did have some.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Both products are a big fail.

        Apple didn't waste its profit on frivolous things.

        Steve Jobs did.

        What he does with his wealth has *nothing* to do with Apple Inc. Don't confuse the two.

    2. squilookle

      Re: Both products are a big fail.

      I have an Android tablet (well, a firesale touchpad with Android installed) and I'm happy with it. I use it a few times a week to read books and play the odd game, and I've been known to watch films and TV shows on it when travelling and bored. I don't feel i wasted my money, partly because I didn't pay much in the first place but also because I get some good use out of it.

      I expect the experience on most of the current crop of Android tablets, especially the Nexus 7 and the Kindle Fire would be similar but more polished, and I would be more than happy to pay the price of the Nexus 7 and the Kindle Fire if I were in the market for a new tablet.

      Conclusion, I don't agree with you, but I'm certainly not saying your opinion is not valid.

      1. dotslash
        Stop

        Re: Both products are a big fail.

        "but I'm certainly not saying your opinion is not valid"

        Can I say so then? Yes? Ok...

        Your opinion is not valid.

        There, that feels better.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Both products are a big fail.

      It's the return of Joerg! The rabid, foaming at the mouth, teeth-gnashing, jihadist, android-chewing kindle-spitting-out and surface-tramping-into-the-dirt fanboi extraordinaire.

      Youv'e missed a few articles out, but it's good to have you back, you entertain me no end with your barking mad posts.

      1. Jaques Croissant

        Re: Both products are a big fail.

        "It's the return of Joerg! The rabid, foaming at the mouth, teeth-gnashing, jihadist, android-chewing kindle-spitting-out and surface-tramping-into-the-dirt fanboi extraordinaire."

        Yeah, he's more interesting than the other mentally impaired one-note wonders like Obviously!, RICHTO or JaitcH(sic)- his thought processes are often so mangled that it's often unclear what he's actually cross about. It's a fun game to see what the object of ire really is, under all the spittle.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Both products are a big fail.

        Twat

    4. Psyx
      Pint

      Re: Both products are a big fail.

      "Android tablets are a shame. Waste of money...[moan, grumble,moan]...Whoever buys anything else is just wasting money on bad products."

      You're out a bit early for Christmas, Mr. Scrooge.

    5. Dave 15

      Re: Both products are a big fail.

      mmm, personally I really can't see the point of any tablet, they are horrible pointless devices. However, the android ones seem as capable as any other, microsoft are microsoft - so pretty good in general with a few well published blips, apple are apple - plain expensive, generally more restricted and less good than the competition, but being vastly over priced for what they are appeal to the sort of 'I'm richer than you' fool who thinks people are impressed by how much cash they can squander. Frankly I'll stick to a laptop with a keyboard...

      1. Trokair 1

        Re: Both products are a big fail.

        @Dave 15: The only good use I have seen for a tablet is reading a book (still like the book itself better) or as a remote control for an over-complicated automated house setup. If I have anything with even the smallest scrap of seriousness to accomplish I will pick a full desktop when available or a laptop when not. Nice to have if it is free and non-exchangeable but otherwise a waste of money.

      2. Chads

        Re: Both products are a big fail.

        "mmm, personally I really can't see the point of any tablet"

        Fair enough - you don't have a use for one. I'll be using mine tonight as an adjunct to the laptop because it gives me multitouch control on faders when I'm mixing the band tonight from wherever I want to listen in the venue... and yes it is Apple because that's what the software's available for and frankly the price pales into insignificance compared to the rest of my audio system

        1. Mark .

          Re: Both products are a big fail.

          Well you might use one for that, but it's still nothing that hasn't been done before by devices (most obviously by actual mixers). Also sad to hear software only being produced for the minority of Apple users - we hear Apple uses whining when companies "only" support the 90% of Windows users, but now it's okay to only support the minority with an ipad? I find this sad.

      3. Gussy2000

        Re: Both products are a big fail.

        I agree because, PERSONALLY, I have little use for tablets BUT (and here it is) our household does have a Kindle Fire that gets A LOT of use. 1) Wife watches Food Network while keeping website up on Kindle. Bookmarks recipes and then sets the Kindle up on a stand while cooking (don't try THAT with a laptop or while holding your smartphone close enough to you can read the recipe). Tablet wins.

        2) To keep my toddle from driving us both insane on 1-2 hour drives, we hand him the Kindle and he watches movies in the car (we can also strap it to seat)

        3) If my phone is charging and the wife needs use of a full desktop and all I want to do is read some news, I take the Kindle and use Pulse.

        4) We have one TV. My son might be watching something on the DVR or Netflix, my wife might be on the computer (we also have one laptop) so I pull up HBO Go or Netflix or Amazon Instant and watch something if I don't read.

        So the Kindle is mostly for my wife and son with me being an occasional user. I really wish the Nexus 7 had been available at the time I bought the Fire but for a $180 item (got it on sale), it was worth the price.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Both products are a big fail.

          Wow, sounds like you are busy fully supporting your wife.

          1. Helena Handcart
            IT Angle

            Re: Both products are a big fail.

            I think they should perhaps throw away their devices and do something together rather than watching TV separately.

        2. h4rm0ny

          Re: Both products are a big fail.

          @Gussy2000 (or other Kindle Fire owner).

          As you have one, can you tell me how open the device is? Personally both the iPad mini and Kindle Fire look like fun devices. But the price differential makes it obvious that the Kindle is subsidized with the expectation they'll make more money from content purchases. So how open is the Kindle? Can you play movies, get books, buy music from anywhere or does it have to be via the Amazon store? Any gotchas with it of that nature?

        3. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: (we can also strap it to seat)

          The kid or the Kindle? Or both?

    6. Anonymous Coward
      Happy

      Re: Both products are a big fail.

      Where's the punchline?

      You're being sarcastic, right?

    7. Mike Judge
      FAIL

      Re: Both products are a big fail.

      Not seen the Nexus 10 then I assume... Loser...

    8. Andrew James

      Re: Both products are a big fail.

      Companies have been repacking older tech and selling it on years later for ages. Apple is not the first and will not be the last.

      Smaller iPad2, maybe. But then you could argue that the PS Vita isn't much more than a PS2 thats been shrunk down a bit, and I can pick up a PS2 on ebay for next to nothing, so by the same virtue an iPad mini should be really cheap - oh, wait, it costs less than the iPad 2. Erm.

      1. David Webb

        Re: Both products are a big fail.

        @ Andrew James...

        But then you could argue that the PS Vita isn't much more than a PS2 thats been shrunk down a bit,

        You could argue that, but you'd be laughed at for stating something so obviously incorrect. The PS Vita is roughly as powerful as a PS3/360 (some games look exactly the same on the PSV as they do on the PS3) so if they had the hardware support they would be able to play PS2 games without breaking a sweat.

    9. Anonymous Coward
      Mushroom

      Re: Both products are a big fail.

      Wibble.

    10. Martin
      Happy

      @Joerg - 59 downvotes in less that three hours

      ...impressive. You going for some sort of record?

      1. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

        Re: @Joerg - 59 downvotes in less that three hours

        You going for some sort of record?

        Up to 202 now. People want to know, Reg editors: Is this a record? Does Joerg automatically qualify for FOTW?

    11. Anonymous Coward
      Gimp

      Re: Both products are a big fail.

      There is always a daft to$$ser willing to fully embarass himself.

    12. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      90 downvotes

      Is this a record?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: 90 downvotes

        Downvoted, only so I could be the 100th.

    13. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge
      Alert

      Blimey

      I've never seen 100 votes, up or down, on a Reg comment before. Bravo Joerg!

    14. Anony-mouse
      Trollface

      Re: Both products are a big fail.

      Spoken like a true i-Sheeple!

      Baaaaa,

    15. ROC
      Meh

      Re: Both products are a big fail.

      Yeah, I wonder sometimes if I wasted $125 on my Android 4 iPad MIni .... er Archos 80 - about same screen size, same resolution, microSD slot, micro USB, full USB, mini HDMI. Granted it is about twice as thick/heavy, but I can't hold anything that big for long anyway without getting my carpal tunnel aggravated, and it does not matter much since I can prop up the Archos on its trademark built-in kickstand. It does all I want from a non-true tablet - not sure what I would do with a "true" tablet that is bigger and harder to hold, and locked down to Apple's walled garden and costs over 3 times as much. But for the price (even times 2 - got the wife one, and that is all she has taken on several trips now to check email/FaceBook/etc), I don't feel enough pain in the wallet to care about it.

      YMMV

    16. 20legend

      Re: Both products are a big fail.

      BIg fat hairy balls, pal!

      iPad 4 is the only tablet that those with more money than sense will be convinced that they need to rush out to buy.

      As they say, a fool and his money are easily parted.

    17. LPF
      Thumb Up

      Re: Both products are a big fail.

      lol that has got the most dwnvotes I have ever seen on this site, Kudos! You went fishing and you caught fish by the barrel :D

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Both products are a big fail.

        Me thinks that someone is trying to out-jake jake in the "how many down votes can I get" competition.

        He really won't like that

    18. Captain Scarlet
      FAIL

      Re: Both products are a big fail.

      Not many Apple fanbuoys on today :(

      /me reads ancient tablet and thinks tablets weren't invented yesterday

    19. nsld
      Facepalm

      Re: Both products are a big fail.

      iJoerg you have returned.

      Did you get lost using the new maps on ios6?

      Let down by your new iphone 4s stretch?

    20. cordwainer 1
      Angel

      Re: Both products are a big fail.

      Well I'll be hornswoggled...It's the Old Time Religion. You don't get that kind of evangelical fervor from today's fanbois (sorry bunch of johnny-come-lately's and where were they when the rest of us were in the trenches fightin' for our last Performas)

      "iPad 4 is the only true tablet. . ."

      Let me hear you say AMEN !

  2. NoneSuch Silver badge
    Happy

    A retailer comparing devices and cost instead of litigation?

    How unexpected.

    1. Ru

      No doubt this outrageous turn of events will be rectified in due course.

    2. h4rm0ny
      Joke

      "A retailer comparing devices and cost instead of litigation?"

      Competition - the one thing Apple don't have a patent on.

    3. ThomH

      Not particularly accurately, though

      Is it really taking the high ground to state that a screen larger than 720p — and about 77% as many pixels as what Amazon calls 'HD' — is "standard definition" and to imply that the iPad has no Wifi? I'm also unclear how they arrive at the claim that the iPad can't be used for viewing HD movies or TV in the sense that the Kindle can.

      If I were Amazon I'd have pushed the pixel density (for tick box feature completists) and price (for normal people) issues harder, ignored the more tenuous claims and put an icon for whatever maps application Amazon ships into the screenshot as a dog whistle. Since it's a Kindle-branded product, boasting about the Amazon digital book library versus the iBooks storefront would probably also have been appropriate.

      1. Andrew Torrance 1
        Headmaster

        Re: Not particularly accurately, though

        Most content is 16:9, so 720p is 1280x720 and as such won't quite fit on a 1024x768 screen.

        Movies on iPad Mini would be 1024x576, 576 lines is SD...

      2. ACcc

        Re: Not particularly accurately, though

        I think maybe the inability to play hd was based on the idea that even at 720p (being nominally hd at 720 by 1280 pixels) the iPad mini would have to down scale to fit it on the screen (due to the 1024 screen width) therefore not supplying 1:1 mapping possible on the kindle.

        I agree, not full HD, but if it can't even play 720 at full resolution and therefore requiring the processor to work resizing the video, they've got at least half a point.

        1. the-it-slayer
          Facepalm

          Re: Why watch HD movies on a 7 inch tab?

          A bit non-sensical when you won't get the most out of the picture quality at that size screen. Seems like Amazon is confused what it wants to advertise it's products as.

          Looks crap with the huge bezel around it and it's almost 100 grams heavier in shabby plastic. They didn't tell me that in this ad.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Why watch HD movies on a 7 inch tab?

            bezel is an advantage for kids/elderly.. my mobile has a tiny bezel and my kids took ages to learn not to push the soft buttons when holding it..

            That said a 2 year old who can unlock and play games on my mobile including searching YouTube is impressive to me.... I dind't start using computers until I was 7

            1. the-it-slayer
              Mushroom

              Re: Why watch HD movies on a 7 inch tab?

              Impressive, but dangerous.

  3. Jack Project

    Company advertising it's own product on it's own website shocker!!

    I occasionally go to the Apple site to see their products... and the Samsung apology of course. OK it's mostly the apology I go for.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I love to laugh at the arrogance of the apology....

      If I was the judge I'd rule in contempt of court!

  4. KroSha

    Not particularly surprising. The Mini is a direct competitor, but the compromises made to make it viable, like the same pixel count as the iPad2, also screw it over. Those compromises are the exact reason Jobs didn't rate the idea of a SFF tablet. Of course, Amazon can charge whatever the heck it likes, as they really don't care about making a profit on hardware. Sales only mean more people buying content, whereas the iPad Mini has justify its existence.

    The only real question remaining is; Will they blend? (The Fire, probably, the Mini not so much)

    1. Ian Yates

      "Sales only mean more people buying content, whereas the iPad Mini has justify its existence."

      Which sounds like a logical argument until you realise that the only official way to use an iAnything is through purchasing from Apple's store, where they take a pretty cut from the revenue.

      The profit margin on the device is massive, but they know that (within reason) the masses will still buy enough to make it a commercial success.

      1. chr0m4t1c

        "Which sounds like a logical argument until you realise that the only official way to use an iAnything is through purchasing from Apple's store, where they take a pretty cut from the revenue."

        Except that this argument is as old as the hills and still not true.

        There are apps for Kindle, Lovefilm, Netflix, Spotify and Zinio to name a few, all of which allow you to use content you purchased directly from them (yes, you can also buy via Apple in some cases).

        In fact, most of these apps are also available on Android, so it's somewhat ironic that the Android-based Kindle is probably one of the most restricted tablets out there.

      2. KroSha

        >Which sounds like a logical argument until you realise that the only official way to use an iAnything is through purchasing from Apple's store, where they take a pretty cut from the revenue.

        Not true. I have iDevices, but very rarely buy anything from the Apple stores. Apps are usually free, and music and video are sourced, converted and loaded though other channels.

  5. Spoonsinger
    Coat

    Where's the playbook love?

    It has erm, and umm, but also style and a very good o/s. (also cheap for 'some' reason). Now if only I could download 'thingy' app. (I still like it mind).

  6. Turtle_Fan

    Serves Apple right....

    Apple shot themselves in the foot with that mini thing.

    It's pretty much like the Porsche Boxster. While the performance may be similar to the real thing and most parameters are broadly in line with the 911 the only real reason anyone buys the Boxster is because they cannot afford the 911. Consequently what all Boxsters "scream of" is Couldn't quite afford the real thing and this is what I settled for.

    This may work with Porsches but don't think it'll work with the iPad.

    Sometimes, backbone and principles are more important and this move will certainly contribute to undermining Apple's image long-term. I mean, Apple managed to get an iPad (any iPad, for that matter) in a comparison with a Fire, something unthinkable with the proper pads (AFAIK Amazon didn't dare go on a side-by-side comparison with either iPad2 or 3; could be wrong though).

    1. Dave 15

      Re: Serves Apple right....

      :) like it

      but then anyone buying a porsche is admitting a serious lack of taste and style, should have gone with a proper sports car with a bit of individuality and style - the Brits make plenty of them.

      1. Dapprman
        IT Angle

        Re: Serves Apple right....

        @ Dave 15

        Name 2 British firms who make proper sports cars (as opposed to track day toys, so excludes Ariel, Westfield, Caterham, and Radical)..

        @Turle_fan

        Shows how too many people judge people based on stereotypes. I have several friends with Boxters and I almost bought one as well. None were because we could not afford a 911, but because we wanted rag tops, some thing the Boxter is very good for, but the 911 Cabrio is flawed (due to chopping off the roof and adding extra strength else where, rather than being designed from the ground up as a soft top).

        1. Turtle_Fan

          On the point of cars

          I admit it never occurred to me that a soft-top could ever be a selling point given that whoever I spoke to about cabriolets (and there's quite a few here in Switzerland) they all complain about soft tops and their noise at speeds above 100kmh (65mph).

          And as for Porsches in general if you exclude the Cayman, I can't say I like the looks of any but that's just individual taste.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: On the point of cars

            You LIKE the Cayman? I always thought people driving those had more money than style... WAY more money than style..

        2. SkippyBing
          Joke

          Re: Serves Apple right....

          Sounds like someone's justifying not being able to afford a 911...

        3. JC_

          @Dapprman

          Name 2 British firms who make proper sports cars

          Lotus & McLaren?

          (I don't really care - prefer motorbikes and Triumph make them as well as anyone)

          1. Andrew James

            Re: @Dapprman

            Lotus, McLaren, Noble ... oh wait, i did one too many.

            1. Armando 123

              Re: @Dapprman

              Lotus is Malaysian ... or was ... gad, I can't remember, which part of Lotus is owned by whom?

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: @Dapprman

                Who cares who the shareholder is, it is where the company is based that matters... Like Jag, sure its owned by an Indian company, but designed & made here in the UK by British workers... and they make damn nice cars...

        4. Anonymous Coward
          FAIL

          Re: Serves Apple right....

          Noble

          Aston Martin

          Next?

        5. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Serves Apple right.... @ Dapprman

          With the two most recent generations of Porsche 911 (ie: 991 and 997), the cabriolet is infact the base model - the coupe (or targa for that matter) is essentially a cabriolet with some extra metalwork. Not the other way around.

          And for the previous generation to those (ie: 996), the coupe and cabriolet were developed in parallel with each other - and also in parallel with the 986 Boxster, with which they share an alarming number of components.

      2. This post has been deleted by its author

    2. TWB

      Re: Serves Apple right....

      I don't like Porches myself, but I prefer the Boxter to the 911 for many reasons but cost is not one of them.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Flame

        Re: Serves Apple right....

        The only reason people buy the poxster is because they cant afford a 911...

        So says Mr J. Clarkson and he's right...

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Serves Apple right....

          Downvoted by poxster owners....HAHAHAH....

          The shame of owning a poxster must be biting....

    3. Gussy2000

      Re: Serves Apple right....

      Except the iPad Mini's competition is both BETTER (spec-wise) AND lower priced so people don't have to "settle" for anything. The same can't be said for a Boxster S which for the price outperforms all other roadsters. And when did buying a $50,000+ car with two seats that you can't drive all year round qualify as "settling" in this country? You must be one of the 1%.

  7. Gordon 10

    Lies Damn Lies and Advertising

    There are certainly some shadings of the truth in Amazons comparison.

    I wouldnt take either side of that comparison as accurate or truthful. About the only 2 thing that unequivocably true is the speaker and dpi comparision.

    1. Captain Save-a-ho
      Coat

      Re: Lies Damn Lies and Advertising

      Surely the top thing of truth in the advert is the cost...

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Lies Damn Lies and Advertising

      "I wouldnt take either side of that comparison as accurate or truthful. About the only 2 thing that unequivocably true is the speaker and dpi comparision."

      Those are the two truths that count though. Apple have miscalculated here and seem to have forgotten what the mini should be all about: growing their ecosystem. Offering a bit of hardware that is in some ways inferior to the competition and also more expensive is not likely to achieve this; especially where the competition have strong ecosystems of their own.

  8. Markl2011
    Joke

    That's fair enough. The only non Apple tablet mentioned on the Apple UK site is a Samsung Tablet which sounds rubbish based on a UK judges description

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Build Quality??

    Why do Apple people keep bringing up 'build quality'? All these systems are built in the same factories from very similiar components and materials.

    1. Dave 15

      Re: Build Quality??

      why did this statement of the reality get down voted? The apple fanbois on the defensive again.

      Same factories, same workers, same material, same chips, same displays, same batteries. I had a feeling that there was one chip designed by apple buried in amongst the rest but I am not actually certain about that - I think they are now all from outside suppliers. If the one chip I recollect is an 'apple' chip then it is still made by someone else anyway.

      The real truth (sorry apple fambois) is that the product is just the same as everyone elses but just priced higher. Put another way, where the hell did you think all that profit came from - the fairies? No it comes from charging you a premium for the badge. Up to you all if you want to pay it, but don't pretend it buys you anything other than a badge.

      1. Andrew James

        Re: Build Quality??

        Assembled by, and designed by are not the same thing.

        Apple designs its own chips and then passes the specs to someone for manufacture. So the performance of said chip is not identical to a similar item churned out at the same factory, but designed elsewhere.

        Where i work we make packaging. Sometimes the customer provides the spec, sometimes our in-house design team does the work from scratch. A carton of identical size may have a very different specification in terms of material used, shape and size of tabs and interlocking components, tearaways etc.

        Just because samsung production lines manufacture components doesn't mean they designed them. Its just very good business to utilise the spare capacity you have in your factory to make a margin from someone elses product :)

        1. Ken Hagan Gold badge

          Re: Build Quality??

          "Assembled by, and designed by are not the same thing."

          But if the phrase "build quality" refers to either of those things, it must surely be the former, so I think the OP's question stands. Perhaps the answer is that this is advertising, and since the "build quality" is actually identical, it follows that the advertising must pretend otherwise. Otherwise, where's the FUD?

        2. Mark .

          Re: Build Quality??

          But the issue was "build quality", not performance - are you suggesting that some CPUs just fall apart or something? But Apple's don't because of the "design"? If you're talking performance, then that's a spec that can be measured. And that's precisely the thing that the Apple fans here are claiming shouldn't be used to compare - it's not about performance, they say, it's all about "build quality".

          Really, I'm with the OP - what is "build quality"? We're talking phones, not furniture. It reeks of "let's make up a random hard to measure stat, and just assert Apple are the best" tactic that Apple fans love to play.

          Most of the design is by ARM, btw.

        3. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Build Quality?? @ Andrew James

          Apple designs its own chips? Don't make me laugh...

      2. Toothpick
        Meh

        Re: Build Quality??

        I don't think anyone's on the defensive. It got downvoted from me because the AC said "very similar". The iPad is aluminium, all the others (as far as I'm aware) are plastic. If you think aluminium and plastic are very similar then perhaps the reality distortion field has infiltrated the world of materials.

        I can compare the build quality of my iPad with that of my wife's Samsung Galaxy Tab and the iPad is better built.

        1. Mark .

          Re: Build Quality??

          Noted. If I want a tablet to act as a door stop, or prop up a broken table, the ipad is the one for the job.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Build Quality??

            The iFan's version of 'Build Quality' is basically that it's got a metal case. Last year, 'Build Quality' meant it had to have a glass case.

            Honestly, though... If the vaunted 'Build Quality' is all there is to strive for, wouldn't we be better off with cast iron or concrete? Then they'd be even harder, so therefore have better 'Build Quality', right?

            1. John 104

              Re: Build Quality??

              @AC Glass Case

              Good point. Fanbois seem to have forgotten all the shed tears over the cool looking glass construction of the iPhone 4, et. all.

              For the record, I have the nexus 7. The build quality could be better, as it suffers from the lifting left corner like so many others do. But for the money and the performance, I'm willing to let it fudge a little. Build material? Really, I think the ruberized backside is probably a better choice than aluminum. Yes, aluminum is sweet and light (I love using it on my boats), but not particularly grippy on its own.

      3. Eddie Edwards

        Re: Build Quality??

        You should read the DigiKey catalogue. We live in a world in which there are at least 351 competing choices for a 0.1uF 0402 capacitor. You don't think there's any differentiation in chips, displays and batteries from various suppliers, nor any variation in case engineering tolerances at different price points? Because I would say there probably are.

      4. This post has been deleted by its author

      5. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Build Quality??

        "why did this statement of the reality get down voted? The apple fanbois on the defensive again."

        Because you're being mentally lazy, you're a prat *and* you're wrong?

        The iPad's build quality is fantastic, it is solid as hell, really nicely made. Much moreso than any of my other devices.

        Of course, I prefer to use my Nexus 7 while commuting, as it's comfortable to hold in one hand while strap-hanging.. it is smaller and lighter. Actually, there are a few other things about it that I prefer about it, as compared to my iPad, but I digress.

        I would have to be some sort of ludicrously feeble advocate idiot who divides the world into who is or isn't in the pathetic tree-house gang du jour, investing far too much of my self-esteem in what brand of mobile wossname I own to claim that the iPad isn't far more study and robust. Making specious arguments from ignorance or mendacity just to support the bug up my ass would really really weak.. amirite?

        Thank god that this is a respectable forum for local people, and there no poo-flinging tribal bellends of that sort around here, eh?

        (Breathes. Honestly, you people. Can't you all just start religions and blow each other up or something? You suck)

        1. 20legend

          Re: Build Quality??

          @AC 20.37 'The iPad's build quality is fantastic, it is solid as hell, really nicely made'

          Maybe so, but it'll still be out of date just as fast as any other technology.

    2. Ed Cooper

      Re: Build Quality??

      Because Apple makes theirs out of a solid billet of aluminium and no-one else does?

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Build Quality??

      I think people consider plastic to be inferior... although if build quality = able to survive a rough life, then plastic wins out... with plastic it flexes.. with aluminium & glass it don't, it shatters &dents.. my aluminium macbook has DENTS, my 3year older laptop that I treat much rougher, has a few scratches on the case,... no dents...

      I really want a Carbon Fibre device...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Build Quality??

        "I really want a Carbon Fibre device..."

        No you don't. You want a carbon fibre and other stuff device, lamitated, involving resin, etc. Carbon fibre's main failure mode is... sudden :)

  10. Ye Gads
    Happy

    Three words

    "Tee hee hee".

    Mine's an extra large tub of popcorn...

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    No idea if it's intentional, but I notice the ipad mini settings icon has an update notification dot on it. Wonder whether that's to get people to subconsciously think of unwanted updates to operating systems removing map functionality.

    1. Andrew James

      More likely it demonstrates that even the Apple employee who uses that particular tablet doesn't want to upgrade to iOS6.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        "More likely it demonstrates that even the Apple employee who uses that particular tablet doesn't want to upgrade to iOS6."

        I wish I hadn't, I had morbid curiosity about the new Maps shizzle. However, it cost me my jailbreak. Of course, I am too lazy to work out how to roll back, I will just wait for Absinthe or Redsn0w to catch up with a5/ios6. For most things, I prefer the nexus 7 anyway.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    You're behind the curve, Jeorg.

    The iPad 5+ is the only true tablet to buy right now! I'm afraid you've just wasted your money on last month's tablet sent down from the mountain of St Jobs.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Product one: We are bigger than Product 2!!! Buy us it's better!

    Product two: We are smaller than Product 1!!! Buy us it's better!

    Customer: Shut up.

    1. DJGM
      Joke

      Or . . .

      Product one: We are bigger than Product 2!!! Buy us it's better!

      Product two: We are smaller than Product 1!!! Buy us it's better!

      Sensible rational customer: Oh ... do shut up, the pair of you!

      Apple customer: Mmmm, iPad! Shut up and take my money!

      1. DJGM
        Flame

        Re: Or . . .

        Any thumbs down on my comment above could really only come from Apple fanbois.

        Get a life you sad muppets with more money than sense!

        1. cordwainer 1
          Gimp

          Re: Or . . .

          "Sense" of humor possibly? I'm a long-time Apple user myself, and I plead guilty to past fanboiage. Um, well, yes, perhaps the occasional relapse. Also eating the pint of Chocolate Fudge Brownie in one sitting. And speeding. Once. Maybe twice. (ahem)

          But DJGM still owes me a new keyboard.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Love it

    A company with the advertised budget and punch to sock it to Apple.

    About bloody time.

    <Steps into flameproof suit>

  15. MaFt

    I hate this kind of comparison chart... Why not add:

    Number of Tablet-specific Apps available: Fire: 5,000(?) iPad: 300,000+

    Can use 3G data: Fire NO iPad: YES

    Sync with iTunes: Fire: NO iPad: YES

    Use iCloud to backup and sync: Fire: NO iPad: YES

    Has an apple on the back: Fire: NO iPad: YES

    Sadly, people will think these comparison charts are the *only* difference between the 2 devices... :/

    1. Dave 15

      agreed

      Clearly not a balanced list - I am sure the fire has loads of abilities to get books from amazon and all that jazz as well. Personally I'll stick to my laptop for porn and a book for reading.

      1. toadwarrior

        Re: agreed

        Excluding games consoles, is there a modern computing device that can't get books from amazon?

        The only kindle worth having is the e-ink version. The android one isn't worth my time because quite frankly the only real good use for a budget tablet is reading books anyway.

      2. Psyx
        Pint

        Re: agreed

        "Personally I'll stick to my laptop for porn and a book for reading."

        Pads are much easier to wipe clean than keyboards.

        Just sayin'...

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Sync with iTunes: Fire: NO iPad: YES

      Use iCloud to backup and sync: Fire: NO iPad: YES

      Has an apple on the back: Fire: NO iPad: YES

      No it cannot do those things. I think that is sort of the point.

      1. Darryl

        I agree with AC @ 17:26. The inability of the Kindle to sync with iTunes and log into iCloud should be listed as selling features.

        1. ThomH

          Ummm, I think MaFt was making the point that feature comparison charts from biased sources are usually a little ridiculous by supplying some absurd suggestions. He doesn't deserve the negative votes.

    3. Greg J Preece

      Not sure how not being able to sync with Apple's shitty desktop or backup software is a bad thing. And iCloud sync? You do know that Google stuff has been sync'ing for years upon years, right?

      1. Spoonsinger

        You do know that Google stuff has been sync'ing for years upon years, right?

        So 'years upon years' is four? (2009 for Google - if you look it up).

        (ps not wishing to get into the whole platform thing - I probably did that in the eighties and grew out of it - but four years isn't 'years upon years'. 'Years upon years' has a certain gravitas in the English language which denotes a cultural and social acceptance as a norm over a significant period of time - which three years doesn't come close to.

        1. zanto
          Facepalm

          Re: You do know that Google stuff has been sync'ing for years upon years, right?

          in mobile computing terms 4 years is a lot. just 5 years back, the iphone just about made it's debut and the word ipad would probably conjure up images of a sanitary product for the ladies.

          1. John 104
            Mushroom

            Re: You do know that Google stuff has been sync'ing for years upon years, right?

            @zanto

            and the word ipad would probably conjure up images of a sanitary product for the ladies.

            Strangely enough, it still does. And coming out with the ipad mini didn't help things any! Bwahahahahahahah

        2. Greg J Preece

          Re: You do know that Google stuff has been sync'ing for years upon years, right?

          So 'years upon years' is four? (2009 for Google - if you look it up).

          Holy shit, an exaggeration on the Internet! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!

        3. Rukario
          Headmaster

          Re: You do know that Google stuff has been sync'ing for years upon years, right?

          Four years = [two] years upon [two] years. It doesn't have the "gravitas", but technically true, and certainly true in the fast-moving world of mobile computing.

        4. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: You do know that Google stuff has been sync'ing for years upon years, right?

          Technically, the phrase "years upon years" is accurate, and would surely only require 4 years, minimum.

          Taking "years" to mean at least 2, the least amount required to make the word in plural form, then 2 years on 2 years would indeed be 4 years.

    4. cordwainer 1
      Thumb Up

      Oh c'mon people

      It's a reductio ad absurdam, but it points out a real problem with advertising in general, and some types of feature comparisons. Both tend to mislead buyers, and neither consistently answers the primary question:

      Will the product do what the buyer needs it to do?

      Is it a tool capable of performing the task the buyer has in mind?

      I can look at Amazon's comparison - or MaFt's sarcastic version - all day, and they're equally useless for determining if I can, for example, transfer all my MP3s, from an ext2 formatted USB flash drive, then play them in order or shuffled or in playlists...Oh, and also have the tablet check the Internet for associated album covers once a day to fill in ones I'm missing.

      Yes, an absurd example. But MaFt is correct, "Sadly" a number of buyers will be misled by a product comparison of the type posted by Amazon.

      Seeing two items compared leads people to believe they are comparable. Worse, it leads some to believe they are equivalent.

      Advertisers know this. It's part of the psychology of advertising. No matter how irrelevant the information for the buyer's intended purpose, advertisers and marketers know a clever comparison will inevitably make a percentage of people believe even wildly different products are somehow interchangeable.

      Let me repeat that:

      Comparison charts like Amazon's are designed to make a certain number of buyers believe two products are equivalent. Interchangeable. Capable of performing the same functions. Close enough to each other, there's no "reason" to buy the more expensive one.

      Like MaFt, I dislike that kind of chart. But what he attempted to say via sarcastic example, I prefer to say flat out:

      I dislike those charts because they are designed intentionally to mislead consumers. Every word in them may be true, but the end result is much a lie as the most blatant false advertising, which to my mind makes them worse.

      So one upvote from me for MaFt

  16. Enjibenji
    Paris Hilton

    Is that the best they could do?

    Point 1: It has an HD screen

    Point 2: Better PPI because it has an HD screen (and is a bit smaller)

    Point 3: did we mention it has an HD screen

    Paris because maybe she writes copy for Amazon

  17. Gene Cash Silver badge
    Unhappy

    Apple & Amazon

    They're both dicks and I won't be buying either product.

    (My Xoom sucks enough as it is, and it doesn't even have Amazon DRM)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Apple & Amazon

      Your Xoom sucks as it's just crappy - I have two friends with Xooms and both don't like them much and don't use them much and both wish they had bought iPads.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Sorry, the Apple products aren't yet "the same as everyone else's".

    So Kindles aren't about selling hardware -- they're about selling media. Unfortunately, Amazon's media offerings are nowhere near as simple, unified, and visually nice to look at as what Apple does. The combination of Manage Your Kindle, Amazon Instant Video, Amazon Cloud Player, etc., etc. is a confusing mess to Amazon employees, much less customers who are looking for a slick alternative to Apple.

    It's the user experience part that Amazon still isn't getting. Remember when the iPod first came out, and all the reviewers said it would fail because on technical, point-by-point features (not including user experience) it didn't seem nearly as good as alternatives already out there? They were missing the point then, and they're missing the point now.

    1. Mark .

      Re: Sorry, the Apple products aren't yet "the same as everyone else's".

      I don't know what Amazon have done to Android, but if they've really botched it, just get a Nexus 7 or Nexus 10. Better specs and lower prices than equivalents from Apple, and the user experience is just as good if not better (finally get copy/paste, did you? How are those maps looking?)

      "Remember when the iPod first came out, and all the reviewers said it would fail because on technical, point-by-point features"

      No, all I remember is wall-to-wall media hype and free advertising, just like every Apple product gets before its released, whilst other better alternatives are ignored. The media don't claim Apple will ever fail - that's reserved for products like Symbian, Android, Windows (all of which have gone on to sell far more than Apple's platforms).

      Plus comparing on specs is all Apple and its fans do these days - remember PPI and "Retina"? Oh wait - it's okay to compare on a meaningless spec and parade it as the single most important thing ever when it's Apple that it benefits (same with multitouch), but when they're outdone on the very thing they said was important, you suddenly retreat to this wishy-washy argument of "well specs don't matter, it's better because of this magical reason that I can't explain why".

      No, competing products do just fine on user experience.

      1. Toothpick
        Stop

        Re: Sorry, the Apple products aren't yet "the same as everyone else's".

        "Better specs and lower prices than equivalents from Apple"

        "Plus comparing on specs is all Apple and its fans do these days"

        So it's not just Apple and its fans who compare specs then, is it?

        1. Mark .

          Re: Sorry, the Apple products aren't yet "the same as everyone else's".

          Er... I have no problem comparing on specs. Comparing on specs is fine, that's my point.

          It was the other person claiming that we shouldn't compare on specs, instead preferring vague terms like "build quality" - and I'm just pointing out that actually, comparing on specs is what Apple fans themselves do all the time anyway.

          Talk about completely missing my point.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Sorry, the Apple products aren't yet "the same as everyone else's".

        How soon we forget. And same thing happened when iPad was introduced. I'll see if I can find some links that still exist.

        There are Apple fans that actually have different opinions than the few that post here--amazing, I know. Specs are the last thing I look at when considering Apple--I check specs before buying, but it's not the first thing. I don't argue about specs on this board. And I never use the phrase "build quality". That means nothing to me. UE isn't magic or wishy-washy--it's a discipline like any other, just harder to measure.

      3. Jazz Kilkullen

        Re: Sorry, the Apple products aren't yet "the same as everyone else's".

        Early iPod reviews from 2001:

        www.geekosystem.com/ipod-2001-ipad-bad-reviews

        www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/news/2001/10/47805

        www.mobileindustryreview.com/2006/03/the_ipod_what_a.html

        Technology Business Research analyst Tim Deal said in 2001: "Clearly Apple is following Sony's lead by integrating consumer electronics devices into its marketing strategy, but Apple lacks the richness of Sony's product offering. And introducing new consumer products right now is risky, especially if they cannot be priced attractively."

        Stephen Baker, an analyst at NPD Intelect, said that the iPod will likely stand out for its large storage capacity but predicted that the device may have trouble digging out a niche in the market.

        ____________

        early iPad reviews from 2010:

        www.asymco.com/2011/03/04/flummoxed-again

        www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/29/apple-ipad-review-photos_n_441770.html

        John Biggs, TechCrunch:

        "The device, as it stands, is so close to the original iPhone that you get a sense of Deja Vu when you open the box and are exposed to the empty canvas bare of apps. Out of the box it is, at best, a large iPod Touch."

        On the other hand, Walt Mossberg said presciently:

        "It's about the software, stupid", meaning hardware features and build are less important to the iPad's success than software and user interface, his first impressions of which were largely positive.

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    MIMO eh?

    'Cause enough of your average Amazoners knows what MIMO is - worth sticking it in the comparison?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: MIMO eh?

      It's a colloquial Australian mime artist, yes?

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Where's Google's Nexus 7 in this fight?

    The clear winner on price point *and* freedom has got to be the Nexus 7, yet marketing wise, things have been a little quiet from Google - at least, on the sites I've been visiting.

    I saw a TV ad a while back for the Nexus 7, but I have to admit, I avoid TV advertising for the most part.

    Whilst the iPad 2/3/4 is clearly a class act, the price point and the walled garden leave little to be desired.

    The Kindle Fire, as far as I'm concerned, is little more than a store front - it's Amazon's own walled garden. Sure, you can bung on a custom rom to unleash it, so it's an option.

    The Nexus 7 is surely the better option for a cheap tablet - I'd expect Google to be making a lot more of a song and dance about it. Then again, it's actually quite refreshing they aren't, so that's the one I'll be getting this Xmas.

    1. zanto

      Re: Where's Google's Nexus 7 in this fight?

      add to that the new prices and it's hard to imagine anyone competing with the nexus 7.

      while their earlier attempts at hardware failed, google branded hardware has started gettting it right on features at prices that are very attractive.

      apple might as well have named the ipad mini as the ipad vista.

    2. Andrew James

      Re: Where's Google's Nexus 7 in this fight?

      They aren't in this fight because this is a fight being publicised & financed by Amazon, on their own website. Of course they aren't going to compare to the Nexus 7.

      "Hey, I hear you're after an iPad mini ... well, have you considered the Kindle Fire HD? Its better & cheaper ... oh, but did you also realise you can get an even better & cheaper product from Google? No? Well, go check it out at google.co.uk/nexus and then you can order from them direct and cut us out completely! You're welcome."

      Nope. Not going to happen.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Where's Google's Nexus 7 in this fight?

      All the nexus 7 needs is a tiny, little, micro sd slot... and i'd already own two...

      although with 32gb out now I MIGHT finally buy one...

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    anyone who buys a tablet instead of a netbook, lapttop, or full sized tower is just saying, Oh yeah, ill waste an extra 600$ on less power and less control and less apps/games. Oh, and i love the screen sizes of tablets, great for squinting compared to my rather small 21" screen here.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "anyone who buys a tablet instead of a netbook, lapttop, blah blah blah.."

      Personally, I leave my hexacore i7 and honking great GPU box at home and use my Nexus 7 when commuting- it's getting increasingly hard to find somewhere to install it all during the morning commute. Damn privatisation!

      (Trans: You, sir, are a curious cross between a dickhead and a dinosaur- and startlingly ill-informed, to boot.)

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Kindle not available here

    The Kindle Fire is not available in my country so I ordered an iPad Mini. Sorry Amazon.

  23. Mage Silver badge

    iFad?

    The new iPad mini needs to be either 1/2 the price or twice the spec. It's like the spec of a no-name tablet, made in same country but x3 the price.

    Only fans or people doing no research into subject will buy it. Cook better hope that Jobs really is dead and not faking or Forstall won't be the only one looking for a new job.

    If you have no intention of buying Amazon content then a Samsung might be better. If it's Amazon content you want (and hardly any is eBooks), then the Fire looks best.. If you only want Amazon eBooks then the "paperwhite" is best.

  24. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    7" Android tablets are great as a book reader and for internet scraping widgets

    I would definitely avoid the 800x600 7" tablet nonsense, that's too low-res; however my open-box HTC Flyer is fine and IMHO beats the higher res Google, Amazon and Apple ones because it has a micro-SD slot.

    Out of the above 3 new small tablets, the Amazon looks the most competitive. The Apple Tablet is plain uncompetitive, underspec'd, and the bumps to 32GB and 64GB take the P.

  25. Nanners
    Holmes

    Right back to the article.

    So every reason that they seem to list is the same reason over and over again. Our screen is a hi def screen. And they seem to just drop the last reason ... Being wifi, which the mini has. It comes down to apps people. Apple has them.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Right back to the article.

      It's funny that Apple fans tout 'quality over quantity' all of the time with 'build quality' and other nonsense, but then blather on about how many more apps the Apple store has.

      As long as you don't need 300 different apps that do the same thing (or 300,000 in the case of fart apps), then there's no need for 500,000+ apps.

      1. John 104
        Linux

        Re: Right back to the article.

        @ all

        I don't get the app count thing really. I have about a dozen or so core apps that I use on my tablet and my phone (both android). Beyond that, who cares?

        As for quality, well, I think 1200 x 800 is better quality than 1024 x 768, no matter how you spin it, pixel density is going to win. Unless you walk around with your screen on full bright all day long, you won't ever realize the supposed difference in any of them.

        Amazon: Store front, good price, great if you are a fan of that company.

        iPad: apple store front (no different than amazon really), lame price, low spec, obviously a fan of that company.

        nexus 7: barely a store front, good price, and you get to do what you want where you want how you want to do it, along with the same high res screen as the kindle plus the bonus of a GPS, accelerometor, and compass.

        (OK, i was fanboing it up a bit there at the end, but you get the picrue)

    2. Nanners
      Mushroom

      Re: Right back to the article.

      I would LOVE a lower cost option dude. Call me a fanboi all you want but I use what works. Let me tell you a quick story. I have used apples since the late 90's. Last time I upgraded my computer (which happens every 5 years or so) I bought a lower cost dell studio 15 inch which had top of the line specs at the time. I went all out on it because it still cost less than an apple. I was very excited to get a faster machine etc., until I tried to plug the thing into my home studio. Not one thing worked with that bitch machine. It was so full of oem ware it was constantly fighting everything I wanted to do. It took me weeks trying to figure what was plug and play on a Mac. If I was lucky enough to get it working at all it didn't work like it should. Then the whole thing started to fall apart. I upgraded my studio gear several times trying to work around windows and oem ware. I went high end spending way more than I should have negating any attempted savings. YESTERDAY I pulled out my g4 PowerBook 1.6 gig powerp.c. And plugged in my 2011 audio interface into it ... Just to try out of exasperation. HOLYCRAP, not only was it plug and play, it actually listed the device in the drop down menu. WTF, that PowerBook was built ten freaking years before the audio device. It's running unsupported PANTHER. How did it do that? I was and am floored. As far as my version one iPad is concerned. I have three pages of semi professional apps that are NOT available for android. If they were I would use it. Not only do they not have the apps, but the ones they do have look like they were done by high schoolers. Not only do they not have the apps except the ones that look like a waste of money, but they don't work half the time when you do buy them. They may work on one device... sometimes, and then not work on the next device. I don't want to use apple... I have to, because the android and windows community can't offer me what I want or need. Get the apps, get them to work, and I will buy in.

  26. Bronek Kozicki
    Thumb Up

    profit fairies

    .... I want to meet one. Oh wait, these are called "Apple fanboys"!

  27. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Many alternatives

    In all the talk about what is better between iPad Mini, Kindle Fire HD and Nexus 7, the real price/performnace winners are being missed. Chinese branded tablets driven by SoCs from companies like Rockchip, AMLogic and Actions Semiconductor can be bought for for half the price with superior specifications, screens that blow the iPad mini's out of the water and features like removable microSD cards, HDMI output and USB host functionality. Just look up names like Ramos, Onda, Cube, Ainol, Zenithink.

  28. Van

    Still doesn't make me want a tablet.

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If this hurt Apple's sales, Apple could just pull the product from Amazon

    People don't go to Amazon to look for a "tablet" to buy, they presumably already know if they want to buy an iPad, a Galaxy Tab or a Kindle Fire since Amazon is not exactly a great place to do product comparison. But if this gave Apple buyers some doubts and caused some to switch to the cheaper alternative (I could see this happening if buying it as a Christmas present for someone else, saving the buyer $130) then Apple could stop selling to Amazon with little or no effect on their sales since people looking to buy an Apple product aren't going to give up just because Amazon doesn't carry it.

    If I was looking to buy one and Amazon didn't carry them, I'd check Newegg or whoever. The only reason I'd be buying from Amazon in the first place is avoidance of sales taxes, but there are certainly other places that don't have a nexus in my state I could buy from - I just check Amazon first out of habit.

  30. AdamChew

    More magic than you see

    For those who want to know what the iPad mini can't do see

    http://www.tapscape.com/kindle-fire-hd-vs-ipad-mini-the-real-comparison/

  31. Trygve Henriksen

    I'll be buying the iPad Mini...

    The Kindle Fire?

    I would have considered it instead except that Amazon doesn't want my money.

  32. Steven Roper
    Stop

    I can't believe nobody has commented on this.

    Looking at the picture in the article, it seems to me that the Kindle looks a LOT more like the iPad than the Samsung Galaxy or Slate. Round corners, black, even the same aspect ratio as the iPad.

    So why aren't Apple suing Amazon's arses off for billions like they did with Samsung? Surely that Kindle must violate dozens of Apple's rectangular-round-cornered-object patents?

    Of course, it couldn't be anything whatsoever to do with the fact that Amazon is also an American company, could it?

  33. Sp0ck

    I have a Transformer Prime, it is a flippin great tablet for me. I read books on it, I watch movies and tv show on it. It gets used every day. Well worth the money I paid for it.

    If I were in the market for a tablet now, I'd get the Nexus 7, wouldn't even bother with the iPad mini, it is an afterthought, Apple are just chasing cash with that, it is purely a kneejerk reaction to the success of the Nexus 7 and the smaller tablet size.

  34. Silverburn

    Careful of the ad regulators.

    So Amazon release a "selective" side by side comparison - woopee. Show me a manufacturer who doesn't do this - Apple included.

    However, I do think Amazon need to watch what they say here, as two immediate issue jump out the Ad regulators will want to explorer. And guaranteed Apple, being the litigation happy company they are, will already be exploring a way to get this ad retracted.

    1. Can't play HD. Actually the ipad mini can, but not at HD. Semantics, I know, but other advertisers have fallen foul of worse.

    2. Comparing radio hardware, but not listing Apple's hardware. Again, they have to watch here, especially as The mini does Group N, plus LTE and bluetooth 4.0. They've maybe go a point with MIMO, but the regulator won't care.

  35. Jonjonz
    Linux

    Oops Your Fanboy is showing

    A straight up comparison is dirty? Fanboy denial is more like it.

    Consumers win, Snarky turtleneck and jeans posers lose.

  36. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If Amazon essentially makes a free Kindle Fire HD included with Amazon Prime with advertising etc. I might be tempted. As it is, nah, I don't want to buy(er, rent) eBooks to be honest. I prefer to own my books and be able to do what I want with them, including lending them to folk(assuming they'll give me them back natch;)).

    The iPad mini is a waste of cash. The retina version will be out in 6 months with a faster processor, etc., etc. and that might be worth the cash but I like the original iPad size for reading, browsing, so I probably won't bite then, either.

    I got a Nexus 7 because that runs stock Android although it doesn't really have a killer app. It's a toy that might become more useful at some point.

    I use my iPad 3 every day for reading newspapers and browsing. Don't think I'll be buying another until at least iPad 6. It is the mutt's nuts as far as I'm concerned but I must admit to slavering over the new Nexus 10 which is a bit of a bugger. I don't think I can justify having two Nexi.

    If the Kindle Fire HD speakers are as crap as folk say, I'll wait until they've fixed them to buy, if ever.

    As for the fanboyism, can't we all be fwiends?

  37. Anonymous Coward
    Mushroom

    So, when will apple be applying to patent the laws of physics?

    Ignoring the hillarious first post, the iPad mini is just as hillarious. Overpriced oooh-shiny-shiny for brandists who will cough up for anything no matter what. And more hillarious is any attempt to defend this over-piced, under-specd thing which has't been made by the gods (cough, I mean crapple)

    Let me quote you something in a recent apple advert on UK TV.

    How can something be both bigger and smaller....

    How can something contain less, yet contain more....

    Apple trying to "quote physics" in order to affiliate with their "ooooh-shinny-shinny fans".

    So what apple are saying here? is it that they have invented physics or that they have defied the know bounds of physics? whilst claiming that they are providing you with somthing no one else can provide you with because it is afterall apple's version of physics, which should now forthwith be refered to as iPhyscs

    So, when will apple be applying to patent the laws of physics?

    Back in reality, as any human being with 1/8th of a working brain can tell you, electronics get smaller all the time. Nothing new here, been happening since the dawn of the transistor.

    Let me re-write this ad for you apple, to fit your iPadMiniOnFeaturesMaxiOnPrice.

    How can something provide bigger profit and give you smaller functionality (easy , make an iPad Mini)

    How can something contain less and yet contain more (profit) (easy, sell the iPad Mini to the brainwashed devotees, who are so flush with cash that they deserve to be fleeced anyway).

    Oh and while I'm here quoting TV ads, apparently apple have invented a "gosh" non-round headphone because as no one else has noticed in the entire human history, ears are not round, they are in fact odd-shaped! Fuck off apple.

    1. Silverburn
      Happy

      Re: So, when will apple be applying to patent the laws of physics?

      Nice wee rant there... Feel better now?

      1. Silverburn

        Re: So, when will apple be applying to patent the laws of physics?

        I'll take the down vote as "yes".

  38. Cyberspice
    Boffin

    iPad Mini

    I've ordered an iPad mini because I can afford it! :-)

    I have Macs (laptop and desktop) for development purposes as they're the most flexible for what I need (Linux, iOS and Android dev). I bought an iPod years ago so when it needed to be replaced I went for an iPod that also happened to include a cell phone, i.e. an iPhone. I didn't move over until they did everything I needed (I was happy with my old Sony Ericsson candybar phone). I have a Google Galaxy Nexus as an Android dev phone but I prefer my older iPhone 4 as my day to day phone. It does what I want it to do and its less hassle.

    Basically when I get home from a 10 hour day I don't want to be faffed with having to be techy to get something to do what I want it to do. I just want it to work simply, quickly, easily. i-products do that for me. The cost is not an issue and I know I'm paying for the convenience, so be it.

    So yes the Kindle Fire may be better for someone people, the Google Nexus 7 for other, but for me the iPad mini fulfils my use cases. Any one who is pro an iPad because its Apple, anti an iPad just because its Apple, pro an Android tablet because its supposedly more open, is just a loon if that's your only rationalisation! If it does what you want it to do then great. But I'm not going to cut off my nose to smite my face.

    Why do people buy BMWs when they could buy Kias? Because they're nice, they can afford to, and they want to. What's wrong with that?

  39. nicsta05

    iPad Mini does have stereo speakers

    Apart from being an incomplete comparison, it is also a wrong one.

    Latest teardown shows iPad Mini does in fact have stereo speakers, confusingly the first iOS device to have this.

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