Thoughts and opinions on the Coby MID7042

bvn

Member
Jun 11, 2012
17
0
I recently purchased a Coby Kyros MID7042 to manage my home network. My expectations have been set by an ASUS Transformer which costs 4 times as much.
It fits in my pocket unlike the Asus. The capacitative touch screen works well. The battery lasts the whole day. Some characteristics:

It has NO Google support. Specifically, it lacks both "Google's location services" and Google Play (AKA the Android Marketplace).

The app repo is GetJar - a lot of free, add supported apps. Side loading is a must. My apps are
- AndExplorer.apk
- androidVNC_build20110327.apk
- AndSMB.apk
- Netflix180HD264-Rotation-Wizard.apk
- wol.apk

The absence of "Google's location services" means that
- the time zone must be set manually
- None of the weather reporting apps work (all the ones I tried, at least)
- haven't tried any map apps as I don't get lost in my house:) I have 5 @ 24" 1080p LED displays at my desk - all the better to find things.

-- errata
- Netflix is my stress test. It works well, specially with the micro HDMI cable. Battery life matched the advertised hours quite closely.
- Pocketability is quite important. I am almost 70 years old and I need my hands free for handrails.
- I am researching "apk downloader" so that I can download Google Play apps to my PC (Torvolds, not Gates) and will report later.
- Found a bug in my unit. The timers do not work. Coby customer support verified, B&H provided me with an RMA in their usual responsive and courteous manner. I really like dealing with B&H, even if they are on the other side of the continent.
- The B&H price is $115 with free shipping. I recommend the $7 micro HDMI adapter and the 32gB class 6 micro SDHC memory stick.

More, later. TTFN
 

bvn

Member
Jun 11, 2012
17
0
I now have a reliable, repeatable process to install free Google Play apps to my Coby. Am documenting - will have soon. As mentioned above, the key search phrase is "apk downloader". I had quite a few "Oh! that's what that means!" events in the process.

While looking up tablet battery replacements, I noticed that the prices hover around $75 - which is ~2/3 the cost of the unit. The life expectancy of the Li/Fe battery is 3 to 4 years. Conclusion, I'm not planning to replace the battery - ever.
TTFN
 

bvn

Member
Jun 11, 2012
17
0
This is my Google Play access practice as of June.2012

    • Get the [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]apk[/FONT][FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]downloader[/FONT] connection to [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Google[/FONT] [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Play[/FONT] working:
      • get a Google eMail account.
      • get the [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Android[/FONT] [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]device ID[/FONT] using GetJar, Coby's app repository:
        • [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Install[/FONT] [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Quick[/FONT] [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]System[/FONT] [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Info[/FONT] [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Pro[/FONT] from [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]GetJar[/FONT] | [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Categories[/FONT] | [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Productivity[/FONT] |
        • look into [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]View[/FONT] [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Properties[/FONT] | [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Secure[/FONT] [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Settings[/FONT] | [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Android[/FONT] [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]ID=[/FONT] {16 hexadecimal digits} and record.
      • Install [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Google[/FONT] [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Chrome[/FONT] browser on PC

      • Install the [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]apk[/FONT][FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]downloader[/FONT] extension from [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]http://codekiem.com/[/FONT]
      • Read and follow the very detailed, installation and operating instructions.
      • Under the [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]wrench[/FONT] icon | [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Tools[/FONT] | [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Extensions[/FONT] | [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]APK[/FONT] [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Downloader[/FONT]:
        • Enable the extension.
        • Select [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Options[/FONT], enter the eMail address, password, Android Device ID and save.
        • To change anything, [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Logout[/FONT] and re-enter the 3 pieces of data.
      • Login to [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]play.google.com[/FONT] (no [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]apk[/FONT][FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]downloader[/FONT] icon should appear).
      • Select a free app and the [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]apk[/FONT][FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]downloader[/FONT] icon should now appear.
      • Click the icon and the [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]apk[/FONT] file should be downloaded to wherever [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Chrome[/FONT] was configured to put downloads.
    • Install the app ([FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]side[/FONT] [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]loading[/FONT]):
      • The PC platform must support the MTP (Media Transport Protocol) USB protocol. This is the standard MP3 player USB connection protocol. [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Windows[/FONT] [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Media[/FONT] [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Player[/FONT] supports MTP.
      • Connect the [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Android[/FONT] to the PC with the USB cable and enable the USB connection ([FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Android[/FONT] side).
      • The Android devices should appear as disk drives in a file browser, such as [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Windows[/FONT] [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Explorer[/FONT].
      • Copy the [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]apk[/FONT] file to an [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Android[/FONT] directory, such as [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]download[/FONT].
      • Using the [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Android's[/FONT] [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]ES[/FONT] [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]File[/FONT] [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]Explorer[/FONT] (in device mode), tap the file and installation should begin. Notes:
        • The data partition of the internal SDHC drive is named [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]/sdcard[/FONT] {where [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]download[/FONT] exists}.
        • The external SDHC is named [FONT=Liberation Mono, monospace]/mnt/sdext[/FONT].
 

LBS1961

Member
Jun 24, 2012
1
0
I've just purchased this tablet knowing that it did not have some of the things I wanted, specifically my son cannot play his mini clip games on it, and no google support. I rather hoped to find a work around on the web. Can someone point me in the right direction please, or give me an idea of what I need to install on it. Thanks
 

JonsZX2SR

Member
Jan 30, 2012
79
5
I installed the (Coby Germany) ICS 4.0.3 update on the Coby MID1126 and with some struggle managed to get Google Market and Google Maps working. I found that I needed to sync an email account, such as, [email protected] (where xxxx= your email account.) Google Earth and Chrome Browser still don't work, but I have successfully downloaded quite a few apks from Google Play Store (using the updated Google Market apk.) Right now getting streaming video on Netflix 1.7 or 1.8 seems to be the big challenge. Try to download Netflix 1.7 or 1.8 from Apktop.com and see if the 7042 can stream video both on screen and through the HDMI port.

6583d1337705641t-coby-tablet-7022-1125-1126-8127-update-ics-android-4-0-true-1126_066a.jpg


Coby 7035, 7042 and 8042 all seem like good smaller tablets. It may take some fussing to get better Android support, but people here should be able to help.
 
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