Should I get an iPad mini or iPad with Retina Display?

Question

Help! I'm about to start college soon and I was thinking of buying an iPad. Thing is, I'm not sure which one I should get. I'll mainly be using the iPad for eBooks, taking notes, and other class related things. I just want to here some other peoples opinion on which iPad I should get. Should it be the iPad mini or the iPad with Retina Display?
I realize that I could just bring my laptop but I don't want to lug it around and have to carry the charger cords and all that.

Answer 1

Hi,
First, I think the size of the ipad is very individual. Some love the idea of 'put a mini in your pocket and go.' Others want to hang out somewhere and read more easily, watch movies/tv, etc. among other things, on a bigger screen. If you are near an Apple store, you might want to take a trip there and check out what your preference might be.
If money is an issue, as it is for many students or parents with students in college, consider looking in the Apple refurbished store. And this is because more important than the physical size of the ipad, is the AMOUNT OF SPACE you will buy vs. how much space you will end up needing as a college student.
My son got his ipad 2 refurb in the Apple refurb store before he started his junior year in college last year. He thought 32 gb would be more than enough, but some time during the school year, he used about 50 gb of his ipad 2 64 gb which was the way to go.  He has to have apps and space for required financial newspapers, pdf's for class, text books, and of course, movies, tv shows, and music, and all that goes with it - netflix, hbo go, mlb, nfl, and other sports apps... The list goes on.
Following is a little more detail from a post I responded to this past week.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/22601600?ac_cid=ha123456#22601600
PLEASE NOTE - Whatever you decide - I read about an app last year and my son got it. It allows him to use anything on his imac (in his dorm) on his ipad and it works anywhere on campus. For example. if he's working on a paper on MS Word or Excel on his imac, and he's somewhere else on campus, he can actually work on his paper in its current program, save changes, etc., so he doesn't have to deal with many of the ios apps that sometimes change format and fonts in translation from mac/pc to ipad. wherever he is because pretty much all campuses have wireless. (It works everywhere for him on his big campus except in one classroom.)
However, when I was checking for updates on it the other day, I found one that sounds better than Splashtop. It's now the top paid app in the business in the app store, reviews are great, and for anywhere access does not require a cellular ipad. It's called Jump Desktop and it works with macs and pcs with your ipad.
Hope this helps and enjoy college!