OK, so I popped down to my local Dick Smith's to compare the Air and mini side-by-side and you guys are right - the Air is closer to my laptop in size (11" MacBook Air), while the mini just seems to feel right when it's in the hand.
I also looked at some Samsung 8" tablets, but again the iPad felt a bit better in the hand and I know from experience iOS is more stable than Android.
So, I ended up pulling the trigger on a Mini-2 32Gb cellular model (and saved another $100 over the Air). Thanks for everyone's advice - I'm glad I asked the question.