Should I return the iPad Air 2 I just brought? Hmmm ....

I got the golden iPad Air 2 128Gb that I ordered online last Friday, and I was happy for a very short while, but then reality kicked in, and I started to wonder if I should keep the iPad Air 2.

I need to first point out one important fact: I currently have an iPad 3, and I am pretty OK with it.  And because of all the accessories that I have for my iPad 3 including:

• Tripod stand
• Case (cheap but very useful and serves all my use cases well)

... I am NOT going to get rid of my iPad 3 unless it dies.

Since I am keeping my iPad 3 and continue to use it in most of the time, this new iPad Air 2 doesn't that impressive to me.  In fact, in order to justify keeping the iPad Air 2, I need to make sure that it has use cases (at least for me) that can't be fulfilled by iPad 3.  Here's some point that came cross in my thought process.

• For now I have to use iPad Air 2 with caution because it doesn't have a case, and there's no cost effective (no way I am going to pay $79 for an official case) case that I need to use handle iPad Air 2 with care, and I HATE using my electronic gadget that way.
• With a case, though, iPad Air 2 is not that much lighter than my iPad 3.
• I don't take super a lot of photos with my iPad 3, and when I do, my iPad 3 is good enough.
• iPad Air 2 doesn't have flash light, which makes me think that it's not that much better than my iPad 3.
• The slow motion and time lapse are gimmick that I don't care much UNLESS it's REALLY slow motion like 240fps capture or higher (which is the case in iPhone 6 and 6 Plus).
• I tried all the drawing apps that I care and found that they are not that much faster on iPad Air 2 compare with my iPad 3.

As of this exact moment, though, I still can't decide whether to return it or not.  I DID managed to find some use 

• I tried PDF reading on GoodReader found that render of PDF pages does seemed faster, making zooming in and out a page a better experience.
• Reading manga by holding a lighter device is indeed a better experience

Since I use my iPad to read a lot, this by itself can be enough a reason to keep the iPad Air 2.  Still, I think I'll keep thinking about it and make up my mind within the coming 10 days.

During the process of plan on returning iPad Air 2, I also consider getting iPad Mini 2.

But why should I order a iPad Mini 2?  Just because the price point is good?  That doesn't make sense when I consider my use case.  One of the reason why I may consider returning  iPad Air 2 is because, after adding a case, iPad Air 2 is not that much lighter than my iPad 3 anyway.  So the same series of question apply when I try to decide whether to buy iPad Mini 2:

• Is iPad Mini 2 that much light than my iPad 3 after adding a case?
• Is iPad Mini 2 that much faster than my iPad 3, such that I will decide to use it instead of my iPad 3, which is ALWAYS AROUND?
• Is iPad Mini 2 providing me that many new use cases that justify the time and effort to maintain yet another device?

The rational part of my brain just to remind me all the reasons that may tempted me to get a iPad Mini 2:

To fill up a "hole" in my heart

I am returning something that I thought I would like.  The action of returning it signals myself that I made a wrong decision, and I didn't like it.  Or I should put it this way: the childish side of me doesn't want to admit that I was wrong.  So there's this impulsive emotional childish need to "buy something else" to make up this frustration.

To prove how smart a buyer I am

After researching on iPad Mini 2 price with Apple store, Target and BestBuy, I figured out that iPad Mini 2 64Gb is a really good deal:

• Apple store doesn't even have 64Gb model for iPad Mini 2, and the US$349 price of iPad Mini 2 32Gb is definitely expansive compare with the BestBuy price for 64Gb.
• Target's price on iPad Mini 2 64Gb is $599, which horrible.  I have a strong feeling that they are trying to rip people off by all these model confusion.
• For $399, iPad Mini 2 64Gb is a pretty good deal comparing with the others.  Plus there are reasonably priced iPad Mini 2 case that I can get along the way.  I know I HAVE to buy a case if I get a iPad Mini 2 since the missing of a reasonably priced case is exactly why I gave up on iPad Air 2.

To have a device to keep all those "nice to have" apps

After a few times of house cleaning of my iPad 3, I realized that there are a lot of apps that are on my iPad solely because I kept thinking that someday, somehow, I will use those apps.  And eventually these apps crowded up my iPad and causing the device to run out of space.  The rationality is that if I can move some of those "good to have" apps on another device (say, a iPad Mini 2), then my iPad 3 can be used for what I use it mostly for: for playing podcast, reading manga, reading magazine, and surfing the web.

Of course, a much better solution is to get rid of all those damn apps that I don't use, and only re-download them back ON DEMAND, just like how I on-demand downloaded yelp on my phone to find a sushi place on my Nexus 5.

So all these does NOT justify the purchase of iPad Mini 2 though, particularly after I compare all the pros can cons.  Plus I don't think iPad Mini 2 64Gb is going to be sold out soon.  If I don't really have a rush need to use it, why rush to buy it?