Coby Unveils Multitude Of Budget ICS Slates

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Budget manufacturer Coby has unveiled a new line of tablets running Android Ice Cream Sandwich, including both 7- and 10-inch displays. The entry-level model will sell for $179, and the top model – though in our opinion not the pick of the bunch (see below) – costs $299. The tablets should arrive in March, and all of them are powered by a single core 1GHz Allwinner Cortex-A8 CPU. All pack in 1GB RAM and a multitouch capacitive display.

The budget Chinese Allwinner chips mean the tablets are all slightly sluggish by premium-slate standards, but the devices are sturdily built and quite good-looking, and Android first-timers or anyone keen on getting hold of ICS on a budget slate will doubtless be well-pleased. Although the Coby slates lack Android Market access, they all come with access to the GetJar App, which offers approximately 50,000 free Android apps.

Coby is still in discussion with Google about gaining Google Certification for the tablets, which would allow Android Market access and the standard Google apps Gmail, Google Maps, Calendar, etc.

Here are the details:

Each of the slates features 1GB RAM, a full-sized USB port, a miniHDMI socket, microSD slot allowing up to 32GB of extra storage space, and a 1MP front-facing camera.

MID7042 7-inch screen, 800 x 480 resolution, 4GB storage
MID8042 8-inch 800 x 600 pixel screen, 4GB storage, $229
MID9042 9-inch 1280 x 800 pixel display, 8GB storage, $259
MID9742 9.7-inch, 1024 x 768-pixel display $279
MID1042 10-inch 1024 x 600 pixel display $279
MID1045 10.1-inch 1280 x 800 resolution display and 8GB storage Available for $299

Nothing will persuade us to buy anything other than the 1280 x 800 res 9-incher. Here is a short rundown of Coby tablets courtesy of Liliputing:

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5. Coby Kyros MID7024 for $172