The Monster M7 is sold exclusively at Wal-Mart for $150, but Consumer Reports' lab testers found a problem. The tablet locked up regularly during use.
To show what happened, testers set up a camera over the tablet. An application ran a slideshow of news headlines. In a time-lapse video, you can see that the slide show stops suddenly, and the screen goes blank.
"We tested three Monster M7 tablets, and the screen froze or went blank on each of them. Sometimes, it happened in less than an hour. Other times, it took several hours for the screen to freeze," said Dean Gallea with Consumer Reports.
Testers were able to restart the tablets to clear the problem, but it happened again with each tablet tested.
Consumer Reports has named the Monster M7 a "don't-buy" item. If you already own the tablet, consider returning it to Wal-Mart, but be aware that they have a 15-day return policy for tablets. So you may have to demand your money back.
