Apple managed to hold out for two years before deciding to enter the market for tablets under 8" in size. Faced with a groundswell of competition from Google and Amazon with the Nexus 7 and the Kindle...

The power of an iPad 2 in a more easily portable device; Battery life / Good sleep mode; Great design; first-rate finish; Responsiveness / Feature-rich iOS 6 interface with over 700,000 apps; Grip/handling greatly improved by intelligent Multitouch pressure-point recognition (so you can rest your

Screen def isn't exactly high-end; Onscreen readability isn't on par with the Nexus 7 or the Kindle Fire HD; Proprietary connector; Internal memory can't be expanded

Apple went gone where we never thought it would, with the iPad mini bringing the Apple tablet experience to a brave new budget world. Two generations on and the original mini now comes in at a wallet-friendly ￡199 / $249 / AU$299 for the Wi-Fi version, with 16GB of storage on offer.

The iPad Mini is a decent tablet that is almost affordable by Apple's standards, making it a good choice for anyone already comitted to the Apple ecosystem.

Decent build quality; good battery life; iOS 6

Screen isn't as good as other Apple devices; A5 processor doesn't offer top end performance

The iPad mini is a 7.9-inch version of Apple's popular iPad, and offers a polished tablet experience in a smaller package. It's too expensive however, and its display resolution doesn't measure up to competing tablets, or other iOS devices.

Ultra-thin and light; Handles ebooks and iPad apps well; Camera; storage and optional 4G make for a full iPad experience

Over £100 more expensive than rivals; Low-resolution display; A5 processor isn't particularly quick

Update: One month on and Apple's first 7-inch tablet is still leading the way.

Stunning brushed metal design; Strong battery life; Simply; intuitive UI

Low-res screen; More expensive than competition; No boxed headphones or dock adaptor

This is my first tablet. Ironically, I have recommended friends and family to get a tablet instead of a pc or laptop, seeing that they wouldn't need the power a full blown pc or laptop can provide. For myself, however, I always imagined that I would need a laptop.

An outstanding compact tablet, beautifully designed and with great battery life. Apple has done a great job with the iPad mini, although it we do feel that the pricing is not as competitive as it could be.

Potential buyers of the Apple iPad are often put off by the price or the size and weight of the ubiquitous tablet computer. The new iPad Mini could be just the thing to tempt those fence sitters – it's smaller and lighter as well as cheaper than the full-size 10in iPad.

The iPad mini is a premium small tablet, with a price to match. It's a shame Apple couldn't have included a Retina screen and newer processor - expect the iPad mini 2 to get those updates when it launches later this year. This Wi-Fi only model also lacks GPS.

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