[ratso]

of course to be taken with a grain of salt, but there are many rumors that next tuesday's press conference for the new mini ipad will also include updates of a few more apple lines. including the mini.

[TheChairGuy]

$30 to $50 (at least) too high...iPad Mini official at USD$329 to start: http://live.cnet.com/Event/CNETs_Apple_event_live_blog_Tuesday_October_23?ttag=fbwp

With Kindle HD's for $199 (+ $15 for no ads).....Apple lost me. 

I'm in a position where I can thankfully overpay $110.00 for something....but, I won't knowingly do so.  Why?

The iPad Mini is going to need aggressive discounts to keep it above a legion of competitors. IMHO.

[cujobob]

I think it will depend on the hardware. I love my iPad, wish it were cheaper but it keeps resale value at least. I can't stand the other mobile platforms on tablets. On phones, sure, or if you're only into reading books they work, but for a laptop replacement type they don't really compare.

I think apple should pick one phone size and one tablet and stick to it. Make the best of each and you'll have customers. Google is going to waste a lot of money putting out all of these new tablets. If they wait it out and continue to patent the best tech and ideas, apple will stay ahead.

The google chromebook is interesting... It's phone tech running a cheap laptop. I wonder how that OS is

[jjc1]

 7.9 in. screen...$329.  Just announced.

[TheChairGuy]

New Microsoft store opened 3 miles from me - opening day is today coinciding with Windows8 announcement - gonna' see what that's all about.

It's right across from the Apple store in the same mall....competition is good for us consumers 

All the same a NEXUS 7 or Kindle Fire HD for $200 seems more likely for me (I love my iPad2, but it's simply larger than I want to tote around)

I want a slightly bigger iPhone experience....a 7" tablet, at as low a price as convenient features allow, is the ticket 

This mediocre first major product announcement without Steve Jobs at the helm portends of the future at Apple I think. 

[ratso]

new mini looks blazing fast. still no replaceable graphics but they did upgrade it though. i wonder if they made it more HTPC friendly (fixed handshake issues, auto switching of audio outputs, etc?). fusion drive looks cool (combo hd/ssd).

[ratso]

uh oh. seems as the masses are not impressed (see comments on bottom)

http://www.macrumors.com/2012/10/23/apple-introduces-new-mac-mini-with-faster-processors-and-quad-core-option/

[cujobob]

There is a $99 Android tablet coming out around Christmas and also a high-end Nexus tablet coming out made by Samsung (partnered with Google). The cheap tablets might not be very reliable, though, so I'd probably stay away from one for $99. I've read a lot about the Nexus 7 even having a lot of issues QC-wise (which Asus is generally pretty good about, but at this price-point who knows).

The Mac Mini not having discrete graphics card is not that big of a deal. If using the latest Intel chips, the integrated 4000 GPU on chip is pretty damned good. The 3000 on my second-gen i5 processor is great for just about anything except some games. Mac Minis aren't really used for gaming by most people and the 4000 might improve a lot on what my machine is capable of. Luckily, this laptop with the i5 has another card built in, it's just rarely used. It's a super small, inexpensive, Mac OS machine. I'm actually pretty impressed. The people commenting don't realize that the 4000 is probably just as good as those old discrete cards they used to offer. Only, it's better on power.

[ratso]

yeah, it seems you are right. i'm not really an expert on these things, but it seems for HTPC use the 4000 should be more than adequate. hardcore gamers are complaining, but i have no idea why a hardcore gamer would be using a mini for his rig in the first place 

[cujobob]

That's really what it is, you don't use a device like a Mac Mini for that, they just want a cheap Apple computer to do what the expensive ones do. The 3000 was probably more than adequate for HTPC use, the 4000 will be overkill for that, even (which is always a good thing). The 3000 can play a lot of games, the 4000 can probably do all but the trickiest.

I read up on the new Ipads, I'm happy to see that the mini is keeping the same ratio as the larger iPad, meaning that all tablet apps work for both. If the Mini doesn't sell like they expect, they can scrap it. The new charging port is great, much preferred over the older 30 pin so that on both is expected but still appreciated. With an iPad 3rd gen, I probably won't upgrade but they took the same thing, shrunk it a bit and beefed up the processor, gotta love that! It's nearly perfect as-is IMO.

Only major thing I need an improvement with in the next few years is an iPhone with better battery life. The next year of competition is going to be interesting for sure!

[planet10]

All the same a NEXUS 7 for $200

With the same amount of memory the Nexus is $250.

dave