Being another Apple launch day, you know I had to pick-up the highly-anticipated new 7.95-inch iPad mini. Before I get into my initial thoughts, I want to make one thing very, very clear: It’s exactly what I was hoping it would be, exactly what I wanted, and truth be told, I am happy I held-off from buying the OG, standard sized iPad.

Why?

Between my trusty iPhone 5 and 13″ MacBook Pro, I have found no reason to carry around a 10-inch tablet. Sure, I recognize(d) the convenience of having it, still do, I just found myself getting along just fine with an iPhone and laptop.

That is, until Apple announced the mini.

In my opinion, the 3-inch size difference exactly fills my device void between phone and laptop. It’s small enough to fit in my hand/carry along without me feeling like a “douche”, the screen is large enough for me to not have to squint or exert energy to get something read, and the tablet is powerful enough to get my miscellaneous endeavours conquered.

I feel like although there is nothing “original” about the sizing, given the Nexus 7 and countless other 7-inch tablets in market right now, it appeases the Apple fanboys who wanted an iOS-powered tablet in a smaller form factor.

Out with the old, in with the new:

Now that I have transitioned all charging ports in my condo from the old 30-pin to the new “Lightening” connector, I have easy charging essentially everywhere. Not sure on the full battery life just yet, but will report on that once I it has fully charged and I give it a chance to completely die out.

As for the stereo sound: it’s simply great. I have been playing RDIO off of it and find the speakers to produce clear, concise and well-balanced sound.

As I am setting my mini up, I will update this post with more thoughts on the overall usability. If you picked one up today, feel free to leave a comment letting me know what you like, don’t like, and of course, overall thoughts!

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