I just can't look past the poor resolution of the iPad mini - and on that basis alone, I would not recommend it to anyone, except people with very poor eyesight.
I agree that DPI isn't everything. I think of it as like "stock" to a soup. Without stock (or with awful stock), you have no soup. The rest of the ingredients are important, but stock is king.
iPad mini has foul tasting "stock" ;)
Brightness is important, but not fundamental, viewing angles are less important when you're looking straight on or from a slight angle (ie. 99% of the time). I didn't notice a huge difference on contrast ratio (eg. differentiating dark colours readily).
I would not recommend the current iPad mini to anyone with reasonable eyesight.