The Coby Kyros MID7015 Internet Touchscreen Tablet ($199 list) is an Android 2.1-based device with a 7-inch screen. Not only is it using a version of Android not intended for tablets, but its resistive touch screen isn't a multi-touch display like the Apple iPad's, so there's no pinching and expanding for quick zooming. The MID7015 performs adequately at best. The hardware, software build, media and display will all be reviewed in this article.
Measuring 7.5 by 0.5 by 4.8 inches with a 7-inch, 800-by-400-pixel resistive touch screen, the MID7015 is a mid size tablet decidedly smaller than the iPad and on a size par with the Samsung Galaxy Tab. The black, plastic MID7015 comes with a case that doubles as a stand a nice add on considering the price and that the iPad's case, which is essential, is an extra accessory. The MID7015 also comes with earphones, unlike the iPad, along with a power adapter, a screen cleaning cloth, and a mini USB sync cable.
The resolution on the screen is 800 x 400. The resolution is a bit on the low side for tablet in this category. Texts aren’t as clear as we would like to see them, as well as colors are not as defined as we see on some other 7 inch tablets. There is a bit of lag when you switch the tablet from portrait to landscape which can be annoying. Overall the display is average for a tablet in this price range. This Kyros MID7015 is a resistive touchscreen device, meaning you had to actually use force to move the tablet cursor around, instead of it reading the body heat your finger puts of to move it around.
The CPU on the Kyros 7015 is a Telechip Tcc8092 720 Mhz processor. It has 256 mb of RAM. Their are much better tablets on the market when dealing with hardware, but they also are much more expensive than the Kyros MID7015. It has 4 GB of built in memory with the possibility of 16 GB of memory with the addition of a Micro SD card. The operating system on the Kyros MID7015 is Android 2.1 Eclair. The Eclair operating system has the bare bones applications when you think of a Android device.
Although, if you are able to Root you tablet you can update the operating system to a much more enjoyable experience. The device is a little laggy, and this is due to the small amount of RAM. One benefit of the software on the device is that it supports Flash. This allows you to watch online videos and view websites normally. One of the most important applications is the Android market. With the Android market app you can get almost any application you will need.
Coby was unable to confirm a full file support list for the MID7015, but we were able to load a typical array, so consider this an informal guide to what file types are supported. For audio: AAC, MP3, OGG, WMA, WMA Lossless (all non-DRM); for video: MPEG4, WMV, DVIX and AVI; for photo: JPG BMP, PNG, and GIF.
The MID7015 may be just $200, but unlike the iPad, it is easy to find it for well below its list price you can find it online for about $150. To its credit, it tested better than the much more expensive Viewsonic Viewpad 7 ($599, 2.5 stars) and the similarly priced Cherrypal Cherrypad ($188, 2 stars). Up against the identically priced Dell Streak 7, however, it is a far lesser machine. That is a damning fact, as the Streak 7 have plenty of issues of its own. If you don't need a tablet right now, I recommend waiting a few months until Coby and many of its competitors—unleash a wave of higher performance tablets armed with Honeycomb, the first version of the Android OS (3.0) specifically designed for tablets.
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