One of the things I love in our times are tablets. I’ve been searching for a reading device now for a very long time. Tried many of them, HP X2, Nook, Google Nexus, and of course iPads. But over the years, I’ve been moving more and more into the Apple ecosystem. I love the idea of Android and how it is adaptable and has some innovative features. But utlimately, I always come back to the Apple ecosystem.
And now, apparently, so does my wife. Recently, I traded in an iPad Air 2 wifi for an iPad Mini 3 4G. One thing I love about the mini is the 4G connectivity. Use it just about anywhere and I don’t have to fuss with my phone’s hotspot. There’s a very nice feature for linked devices to turn on the hotspot automatically, but it is finnicky. Not always guaranteed to work and it is a hassle to take out of the phone, turn on the hotspot, wait until the iPad picks up the wifi signal before you can use it. Not a great experience. That’s all gone with a device with 4G built-in. It just works as long as there’s a signal.
However, the other nice feature about the mini is the size. It is just more portable than a bigger iPad and lighter. So my wife basically took over the mini. She carries it around the house and she’s taking it outside more too. We’ve noticed that due to its smaller size, the battery doesn’t last nearly as long. They say 10 hours, but it doesn’t feel nearly as long as the bigger iPad. Certainly doesn’t last nearly as long as the iPad 3. With a smaller battery, it also recharges a lot faster.
So after she’s taken over the iPad mini. I’ve been back onto the iPad 3 as a compromise. And today that compromise is gone. I’ve been reading a lot more on this device mostly because PDFs render much better on a bigger screen. My eyes are slowly going too. So I sold the iPad 3 and got another iPad Air 2, but this time with 4G connectivity. Can’t wait to use it as I’m waiting for the syncing to finish in the background as I write this.
