Sylvania Joins Bargain Tablet Race With 7 Inch MID

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A bit of a surprise comes our way via a combination of folks at Kmart and Sylvania–Kmart is looking to take another run at the bargain tablet market with some help from the folks at Sylvania. They’ve joined up to put a seven inch tablet on the shelves, and this whole thing has me scratching my head.

The Sylvania tablet itself is being described as a “7-inch MID (mobile internet device, in case the acronym escapes you) tablet.” It’s looking to come equipped with Android 2.1, an 800 x 480 screen resolution, 512 megs of RAM, two gigs of Flash memory storage, a front-facing camera, a microSD card slot, and six hours of battery life on a single charge. What’s more, you’ll even get Wi-Fi access, an HDMI port to put this sucker’s contents up on a bigger screen, a pair of mini-USB ports, and what is likely a touchscreen display.

Speculation is already running riot as to whether or not this thing will let you get on the Android Market and thus stuff your new tablet full of apps, though the current consensus seems to put the chances of this right alongside the same chances of Frosty the Snowman in hell.

For my money, though, I can’t help but look at this tiny Sylvania and think of last summer’s interesting go-round with the Augen tablets that Kmart brought out. I actually tried one of those Augen tablets–the price was right and the allure of dirt cheap access to the Android market too much to resist–and found the experience a slow, clunky, and deeply unpleasant experience.

Sure, the Sylvania tablets will cost a bit more than Augen’s offerings at $179.99, so will it work a little better too? It’s a brand new item out if you want to give it a try, so just head over to a Kmart near you (which may be a challenge depending on where you live) and find it waiting.