Screen "niceness" constitutes far more factors than just DPI.
It could be contrast ratio, colour gamut, brightness, subpixel quality, viewing angles, reflectivity of coating, susceptibility to oils/fingerprints...
I've used both. I prefer the Mini's screen to the old N7: larger viewing angles, better color saturation/accuracy, less backlight bleed, smaller bezel.
The iPad Mini Retina will likely be the perfect small tablet for most users.
I just can't look past the poor resolution of the iPad mini - and on that basis alone, I would not recommend it to anyone, except people with very poor eyesight.
I agree that DPI isn't everything. I think of it as like "stock" to a soup. Without stock (or with awful stock), you have no soup. The rest of the ingredients are important, but stock is king.
iPad mini has foul tasting "stock" ;)
Brightness is important, but not fundamental, viewing angles are less important when you're looking straight on or from a slight angle (ie. 99% of the time). I didn't notice a huge difference on contrast ratio (eg. differentiating dark colours readily).
I would not recommend the current iPad mini to anyone with reasonable eyesight.
> viewing angles are less important when you're looking straight on or from a slight angle (ie. 99% of the time).
I find that with the ipad mini viewing angles actually do seem kind of important, because—unlike a phone—I very often use the ipad mini without holding it, whether sitting on a table, on my lap, or propped up against something while I watch a video. The result is that one doesn't have nearly the same easy control over viewing angle one has when hand-holding a device...
Yeah, this is the thing I could never get my head around. I know that the iPad mini is superior in many ways, but I just can't see how people can justify spending the extra money! The iPad mini is £110 - £190 more expensive, depending on which size you get. That's just too much IMHO.
It could be contrast ratio, colour gamut, brightness, subpixel quality, viewing angles, reflectivity of coating, susceptibility to oils/fingerprints...
(I haven't used either, I'm just saying)