had a play on one at the apple store today, really liked it went on the air after and it felt too big/heavy

Mine was waiting for me when I got home

I've spent the last 20 minutes closely examining the screen to see it is suffering any of the screen problems that have been reported with some of the iPad Airs. Glad to say the screen is flawless. So far anyway!

Congratulations! Mine came today too.

I'm glad you aren't joining the ranks of those 'perfection seekers' who seem to look for any excuse to send their Apple device back. "It's too yellow" "It's too blue" etc.

I brought mine today from John Lewis Nottingham

Oh,I forgot to mention that the ipad mini with retina display has a 3 year guarantee online and in store at John Lewis.

Is there any sign of the cellular version yet - has anyone here got one or know someone who has got one ?

Yes, I've got the 32GB space grey cellular version. Picked it up from the Aberdeen Apple Store on Wednesday.

Ah, so they do exist. Hopefully my online order for a 64gb one will materialise soon.

Hi,
Could anybody help me please? I'm interested in getting my daughter an Ipad for Christmas, at the moment she has an i pod touch. I have no idea whether to get an Ipad mini, retina display, a regular Ipad mini or an Ipad 2. If anybody has any advice I would be eternally grateful. Also, do you advise 16GB or 32GB? Many thanks.

Too many variables!
The iPad2 and iPad mini are the same resolution but differ in physical screen size. The mini is better for having with you at all times - but the larger screen size can also be good for photos, videos etc.

Similarly it is only screen size which differs for the new retina mini and the iPad Air.

Buying the older models will save money - it depends on whether she NEEDS the extra resolution.

16Gb is a good size to start with IMHO.

I would avoid the ipad 2 and non retina ipad mini as they not that great. The iPad 2 is 3 years old now and is really slow with iOS 7 apparently. iPad mini retina is twice as good for the iPad mini non retina it is better for reading etc because the text is really good.

I have a 16gb ipad air which is ok for my needs I just can't put all my music and videos on at the same time. I put my music on my iPhone 5s and music videos & movies on my ipad air. The 32gb would be a lot better for me but I couldn't stretch to it. The 16gb is great for web browsing, some apps, maybe a movie or two but 32gb gives you more flexible options.

The retina ipad mini and normal mini would be better than the ipad 2 which won't be as useful in the future due to the slower processor etc.

I would go to the Apple store if you can or another store that sells iPads like John Lewis and have a look at what ipad suits your budget and daughters needs. I am sure she will love her gift.

Full Anandtech review up now. Detailed as always. Interestingly he believes there are multiple sources for the displays. Also in a few of graphics benchmarks the iPad 4 wins over the Air and Retina Mini.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7519/a...splay-reviewed

Sharp are said to try to make the bulk and LG the rest.
http://www.gottabemobile.com/2013/11...etina-display/

Yet here claims Samsung are too. You could probably find the traits which your display correlates too and thus guess the manufacturer. They reckon the Sharp ones ghost more.

"Apple sent an LTE model, which basically duplicated most of the functionality of my smartphone."

I doubt Apple are in any rush to make it function like a Phablet..

The ghosting is apparently not noticeable by normal users. There is a test that displays a chequerboard for 10 minutes then switches to a dark grey background. On some displays you can still see the chequerboard for a while. This is the same test Anadtech tried. http://www.marco.org/rmbp-irtest.html

The iPads can be used as phablets within the iOS ecosystem. Obviously iMessage works to/from other Apple devices. And also since iOS 7 you can also now make low bandwidth audio only calls using FaceTime.

The Mini though is a bit too large and wide to be used comfortably as a phablet. Also I doubt they'll add the ability for make normal calls and texts as it will cannibalise/dilute iPhone sales. They may well make the Iphone slightly larger eventually. But it requires a total change of direction from Apple which has for years been going down the miniturisation route of shaving a few mm and grams from here and there. Going for a bigger screen will allow larger batteries though which could be handy.

Depends if you think Sim bypassing VOIP makes it into a phablet.

I'm not sure if any 8" 4:3 Phablet would cannibalise many phone sales. Its a lot bigger than most 7" phablets.

Depends a lot on the networks too. Some block/discourage VOIP and some provide their own apps like TUGO which even relay SMS too.

To be honest I have an Ipad 2, a mini and an Ipad Retina and i see no difference in terms of speed with IOS7.

But i agree with you in this day an age i would not buy an
new Ipad without the retina display, the quality is simply superb. Like you said the new mini with retina is probably the best choice for a present.

I managed to have a look at the iPad Mini with Retina Display and I must admit it's a very nice iDevice.

Compared to the iPad Air it's definitely going to be my next tablet of choice once Christmas 2013 is out of the way.

Thanks to all who have replied to me - a decision has been made, I think that I'll go for the IPad Mini with Retina Display.

Thanks once again - you've been most helpful.

The good news is that my 64GB cellular retina mini has dispatched. The bad news is it's coming from China and is not scheduled to be with me until the 2nd December. Anyone else who has received a retina mini this way give me any hope that it might arrive sooner ?

If you've received shipping notification, it takes 3-4 days to arrive from China. My iPhone arrived well ahead of the due date.

That's what I thought, my 5S arrived in a few days

If it's coming via UPS like mine did, then the ETA should be pretty accurate.

It's reached Cologne, I'm hopeful I should have it the end of the week instead of next Monday

What date are UPS saying? Because that's the latest you'll get it, barring something extreme.