Just a quick update...I've had my iPad Mini for a week now, and I'm well impressed with it. I can hold it without any pain in my fingers, it's comfortable and easy to operate, even with my fingers that seem to point in all different directions.
It's very quick to open web pages, reads emails perfectly, and is quite happy on Facebook in the evenings. It took me a while to figure out how to use the Gmail Chat function to talk to 'er that's in Canada, but now I've sussed it out, it's become second nature. The video chat is very handy too
(she has an iPad as well)
I still have problems trying to copy/paste on it, but then I didn't really buy for that, so it's not really a problem. The camera is good, takes very clear pictures, but again I didn't buy it to take pictures, I have a camera for that. It plays back videos very well, something my cheapie one wouldn't do.
Only one gripe with it...the charging lead really needs to be a couple of feet longer.
Overall, I'm very pleased with it...and at £280 delivered to my front door in less that 24 hours, it's really good value for money. I'd recommend it to anybody in the market for a tablet pc.
Thanks for all the replies, guys...you helped me choose an ideal piece of kit for my needs.