How is that iPad Mini for watching films?

By and large, the apple ipad Mini is ok for watching films (as well as doing pretty much anything else). The processing power is nearly the same as a iPad 4, so there’s no actual difficulty there also the playback is mostly as easy as an android’s bottom (Star Trek joke).

The one real concern with the iPad Mini is the deficit of a ‘Retina Display’, the stunning screen tech featured on apple ipad 3 – 4, iPod Touch (4th – 5th Gen) and iPhone 4 – 5 (among others). The iPad Mini does suffer somewhat with the lack of a Retina Screen, but it’s not really a issue.

There’s, obviously, the matter of that 16GB apple ipad Mini struggling to store information, on the other hand, but that’s typically common sense

Gareth Beavis, in the authorized ‘TechRadar.com’ review of the Mini, said:

“The iPad mini suffers from the same thing that all the other iPads do: namely that the 16GB version, which is the poster child of the new cut-size range, is too small to really pack with the movies and apps that you want”.

 He then went on to talk about the iPad Mini’s lack of file compatibility. That is, so far as I am concerned, the Ipad mini’s main drawback as a media device.

“There’s the other issue here: the lack of file compatibility. The iPad mini will play .mp4 files fairly easily, but if you fancy chucking on a DivX or AVI option then that’s out of the question. There are third party applications you can use, but these can be extremely buggy and cost extra to put on your tablet…But that’s the griping out of the way – as a video player, the iPad mini is excellent. It’s just the right size and weight to hold two-handed in landscape mode, and if you’re OK with it not feeling as secure in one hand, a decent heft to hold with a single set of digits”.

 I believe that Beavis provides a pretty good list of the pros and cons.

Elsewhere, the Head of Technology at the Daily Telegraph, Shane Richmond, addressed the smaller screen size in the review, when he wrote,

“In practice the smaller screen size is not much of a problem and it is because of that 0.9-inches, which gives 35 per cent more screen area than the Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire HD”.

In addition, the 7 inch size actually makes the iPad Mini easier to hold when viewing a movie; the tablet really uses its small stature for a bonus. Besides, the display remains to be above sufficient. Devindra Hardawar, of ‘Venture Beat.com’, wrote,

“Movies and games don’t look as sharp as they do on Retina Display-equipped iPads, but it’s a more than worthy tradeoff. It takes a discerning eye to notice the benefits of Apple’s Retina Display, but anyone can immediately recognize how much more convenient the iPad mini is. (And naturally, that’s a problem that will be fixed in future models when Apple brings Retina Display quality to the iPad Mini.)”

All things considered, the iPad Mini is ok for watching movies, but I personally recommend that you opt for the tablet with extra storage space (and also that you keep in perspective the file type limitations of the iPad Mini).

How is that iPad Mini for watching films?