Apple's iPad Mini was announced earlier in October at a press event and now the highly anticipated gadget goes on sale for the first time Friday, Nov. 2, starting at 8 a.m. ET.  

The iPad Mini starts at $329 and has a smaller 7.9 inch display compared to the regular iPad's 9.7-inch screen. It also weighs less than the regular iPad (0.68 pounds compared to the classic's 1.44 pounds), is thinner and runs on the same iOS 6 software as the original iPad. 

"The whole package. In a smaller package," the Apple website said about the new iPad Mini and its more compactible size. They also mentioned some of the device's special features, such as a 10-hour battery life, a FaceTime HD camera, a powerful A5 chip and an iSight camera with 1080 pixels HD video recording.

Every iPad also comes with one year of hardware repair coverage and 90 days of free telephone technical support, according to the site. In addition, a new version of the original iPad with a Retina Display also goes on sale Friday, priced at $499.

Excitement for the iPad Mini was so high that it sold out three days after being available for pre-order, according to Mashable. However, Apple's new gadget received mixed reviews. Some are saying it disappoints with its non-Retina display and other noted its, perhaps expensive, pricing when comparing it to other similar gadgets on the market. 

"By pricing the Mini so high, Apple allows the $200 class of seven-inch Android tablets and readers to live (Google Nexus, Kindle Fire HD, Nook HD)," according to The New York Times. "Those tablets also, by the way, have high-definition screens (1,280 by 800 pixels), which the Mini doesn't."

CNET said "good alternatives are available for less money," but because of its other notable features, they also added "If you want the full, polished Apple tablet experience in a smaller package, the iPad Mini is worth the premium price."

On the other hand, the NY Times raved that the iPad Mini "is a far classier, more attractive, thinner machine" than other tablets currently on sale. It was also called in some reports "Apple's best tablet yet" and "the best small tablet," according to Mashable 

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