iPad mini: reviews roundup

Lucky are those who managed to get their hands on Apple's latest new product, the iPad mini tablet, before everyone else.

But is it any good? Is there a business use case? Or is it just a tablet for tots?

My esteemed industry colleagues found out.

• "The perfect size, but at a price." -- CNET's Scott Stein
• "A device so good that perhaps this update was released so soon after its predecessor to maintain the appeal of the bigger, more expensive unit." -- Engadget's Tim Stevens
• "There's something endearing about the mini that makes you want to keep it on-hand and use it often. It's a feeling the larger iPad never elicited in me." -- The Verge's Josh Topolsky
• "In portrait, I actually find it easier to type on the Mini than a full-size iPad. All thumbs, with less distance to travel between keys, it feels more like typing on an iPhone. In landscape, though, typing is decidedly worse." -- Daring Fireball's John Gruber
• "Unlike its closest competitors, the Mini can't play video in high definition." -- The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg
• "By pricing the Mini so high, Apple allows the $200 class of seven-inch Android tablets and readers to live (Google Nexus, Kindle Fire HD, Nook HD)." -- The New York Times' David Pogue
• "By comparison, the regular iPad feels like you're holding a full flat-panel monitor. And the Nexus 7 feels like you're holding a piece of plastic with a screen bolted on." -- TechCrunch's MG Siegler
• "The iPad mini is the best small tablet you can buy. The question you'll have to answer for yourself is whether it's that much better." -- Bloomberg's Rich Jaroslovsky
• "A product in a category of one." -- TIME's Harry McCracken

There you have it. A business case? Not really. A cheaper way to occupy your kids on a long car ride? Most likely.