Two months down the line and the iPad mini has been elevated as my go-to tablet of choice, which is surprising for someone who relies on the larger iPad for so many things.

I had always wanted an iPad however wanted a smaller version and this one is perfect. Works great with my iPhone and Apple TV and it was for a great price!

My new iPad mini has met and exceeded all of my expectations. It does exactly what I need to do--and straight from the box. Great battery life, gorgeous screen, and access to tons of useful (and fun) apps. Love Apple products.

I think that the IPad mini is a great product because its smaller than the IPad and allot cheaper.

The iPad Mini is one of the few new product lines that Apple has unveiled this year, yet it's really just an incredibly shrunken-down redesign of the iPad 2. It's a perfect size and weight, and works exactly as advertised: it's a truly portable iPad with excellent battery life and nearly no...

The iPad Mini's ultra-thin and light design is far more intimate than the larger iPad; Offers a full iPad experience; The screen's dimensions elegantly display larger-format magazines and apps

Costs too much comparatively; The A5 processor isn't as robust as the one in the fourth-gen iPad and iPhone 5; Typing on the smaller screen is not quite as comfy

The iPad mini doesn't arrive in stores until November 2, but our US colleagues got to spend some time with one after Apple's media event at the California Theater in San Jose. Their conclusion: Yes, it's a small iPad-but there's more (and less) to it than that. Here are their hands-on impressions.

The war in which everyone seems to be winners is the one we seem to have had with Apple and everyone else in the last couple of decades. It started with Mac vs PC, continued with iPhone vs Android, and now that battle has extended to the tablet market.

Good price; good size; all the advantages of a tablet; great video and audio; all the apps; all the features of I devices

Like all Apples; not massively configurable; a new proprietary cable to worry about

Forget the headlines and exit the hype train at the next station. The iPad mini is here and it's not the shining beacon we all expected it to be, but it damn-well got close.

For the past few years, Apple has set the pace in the tablet market. With Amazon's Kindle Fire and Google's Nexus 7 gaining a firm foothold in compact tablets, however, Apple has found itself falling behind. Now it's hitting back with its own compact slate: the 7.9in iPad mini.

A hands-on look at Apple's new iPad mini 7.9 inch tablet.