Valley residents were just as enthusiastic. Mike Altice of Fresno bought his mini at Best Buy just before 9am.
"I think the key to whole thing is you get all of the great things that the iPad has but it's in a small footprint, you can hold it in one hand," Altice said. "Nothing's changed."
The new iPad Mini is much smaller and weighs just a little more than half a pound.
Arun Shivaprasad with Best Buy said, "They had the first iPad and this just kind of takes it to that portable anywhere you can use it factor. It has a really cool 5-megapixel camera on the back and a 720 HD video camera on the front too."
Shoppers say the video quality is also incredible, allowing people to watch movies and shows.
Many of us are familiar with the Apple iPad but there are other brands out there that do similar things. Here at Best Buy, they have more than 30 models on display.
"Windows 8 just launched and they have one of the coolest touch interfaces on their tablets," Arun Shivaprasad said. "And then Android too they have one of the largest marketplaces out there to get apps and things like that. There's just a huge variety of them out there that you can find."
Critics say other brands are just as specialized and they cost less, about $200, while the IPad Mini starts at $329.
Technology experts say because of the versatility, tablets are growing in popularity. And this holiday it seems they will be a hot selling item.
Mike Altice said, "Don't tell anybody, but if this one works out, my kids might be getting one for Christmas."
