I bought an iPad mini on the first day. I like it. I don’t care how bad “everyone” says it is.
I quickly discovered an app for the iPad called Textastic, which makes it easy to edit files accessible via Dropbox (or a couple of other mechanisms). I particularly like the cursor navigation wheel and the special symbol and number keys above the normal keyboard which give easy access to 45 or so more keys without cycling through keyboard layouts. It is a steal at $8.99. My Thinkpad has neither the battery life nor the size to allow for practical editing of files on the plane for more than a short time, so this app was a lifesaver on a recent trip.