Resistive vs. capacitative: I used to have the 7024 and didn't mind the screen, because the calibrator seemed to work pretty good for my touch, and if it wasn't being very responsive, a fingernail or the stylus would do the trick. However, I didn't have experience with the capacitative screens before. My fiance, who's used to the swipes from the iPhone and other smartphone essentially freaked out on the tablet and would get angry - especially when I said, "Here, give it back" and it would work for me. ;-)
I like the 8-inch screens for e-reading and surfing (I've played with a couple in stores), but I like the feel of the 7-inchers in my hand when I'm reading, probably because they're more "book shaped" and usually a little lighter. Coby's are thick and hefty, but they honestly didn't bother me that much, and I think part of it was the shape. My work Galaxy is lighter, I think, than the Coby 7024, but after a bit of reading on it (holding it in portrait) it starts to feel heavier, and I think it's just the weight distribution. Overdrive also displayed funky in the 7-inch, so I would basically *gasp* break the DRM to reformat it into a normal e-pub, read it, and then return it on Adobe and delete it.
When looking at reviews of budget tablets, keep in mind that many people who buy them might not know what they're getting into in lack of Android Market and certain apps, so some negative reviews are stemming from that disappointment and confusion. A budget Android is not an iPad, and even if someone hasn't used an iPad before, there's this general sense or idea of what it's like. If you want sideloading and some ereading apps, then I don't see why a budget tablet wouldn't work, unless you want really good screen resolution. I would've gone budget again (I was looking at the
Skytex Skypad Alpha, $150 on Amazon), but I didn't want to root, periodically trick Android Market, go back to resistive, and fell in love with the resolution on the Galaxy. Hence, the A1 (Netflix is the bonus); our household has had good luck with that brand, and I got the 16GB for $229. :-) As long as it ships, of course :-\ I'm not a gamer, so I won't miss the dual core (though I have triple core on my laptop and love it when I've got a bunch of programs running). I was buying into the screen, brand, and Android/Netflix perks. :

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On the Coby, I used Aldiko (it comes with it, and most tablets I've seen out there do), and experimented with Moon Reader and a couple of others, but always came back to Aldiko. I can't remember what apps came through Coby's AppsLib and which were taken from Market. I think you could get Kindle, Nook, and Kobo, but I won't swear to it. If not, you could pretty much sideload anything, the only trick was Market, since it looks for a licensed device.
PDFs are crummy on a 7-inch screen, I'd imagine they would be better on an 8-inch. And this is another long post ...