It all depends on what you want the iPad mini for. I only use mine for skydemon and a bit of emailing, web browsing and nothing too heavy.
No problem with speed at all, but I take your point, it isn't the latest version.

Just be aware that the non-retina Mini is pretty old technology. It's basically the same as the iPad 2 released in March 2011.

It's fairly slow and somewhat memory constrained compared to all other iPads.

If anyone is looking for a good deal on iPad minis, for use with skydemon take a look at John Lewis, currently sold for £199 with 3 year warranty included.

http://www.johnlewis.com/electricals/ipad/ipad-mini/c6000400019?tmad=c&tmcampid=81&s_emcid=JLE1537_RTNL_20141116&s_emuid=SH_2965F0652E374E71A62E8A0D6140E4EA