I went with the Nexus 7 over the mini Ipad. I saved about $130 bucks for the base model. Actually I bought the model with the higher capacity which was $50 more, so I still ended up saving $80.
Total cost was $250, plus I believe you get the latest andriod updates on these tablets since they are Google produced. The Nexus 7 I have is wifi only, but I think you can get a 3g version. Its pretty cool and I like it. I'm sure the Ipad would be fine too, but I went with value on this one.