I bought the original iPad shortly after it was released. I upgraded to the iPad 3 when it hit the market. I'm not planning to buy the iPad 4 - I reckon I can go a couple more generations before upgrading again - but this morning I held the iPad Mini and I am now experiencing an unsettling degree of techno-lust.
It is, in a very real sense, the same as all the other iPads. If you've used an iPhone, an iPod Touch or an iPad you can use the iPad Mini and you know what it can do. It is quite beautifully made and wonderfully light. For reading it is, almost certainly, an ideal shape and size. For writing, maybe it's not as good as its larger predecessors. I want one; maybe next year.