First Impressions; PiPo M8 Pro-3G Tablet

geofferyh

Member
Jan 4, 2011
91
10
For me, this has to be the best yet from PiPo!

It only took a few days to get the tablet via DHL from Pandawill and unlike from some others I have ordered from, was packaged properly to prevent shipping damage.

The tablet was setup for English language use. While the Owner’s Manual is in Chinese, a "Quick Start Guide" is included that is printed in English, and I believe Spanish, German and Russian language too. Also, there is an English M8 User Manual in .PDF format included on the tablet.

I also have a 10" Flytouch 2 and a 7" PiPo U1. I find the 9.4" M8 screen is best for my purposes because it is a 1280 x 800 pixel format. My primary tablet need is for use as a Remote Desktop device that best presents a Windows Host screen resolution of 1280 x 768. I utilize GoToMyPC to connect via WIFI to a customer’s Windows based computer to update and provide training on database software that I develop.

I have installed a Netgear WN2000RPT Universal Wi-Fi Range Extender in my office to boost WIFI from my remote wireless router. This greatly improves the WIFI signal reception for all tablets, but this PiPo M8 has the fastest internet connectivity I have seen to date. I am sure the Quad-core Rockchip 3188 CPU coupled with 2GB of RAM has everything to do with the great performance.

I especially like the "Startup" button located at the top Right Side of the tablet that also doubles to put the tablet in "Standby" mode. Gone are the troublesome push-switches found on some other PiPo tablets.

The front mounted speakers are another big plus. They are a bit on the "treble" side, but produce very acceptable music (go Stones...). For normal listening you will actually need to turn the volume down!

The on screen keyboard has nice large keys to help make data entry much more error free.

Battery life seems very good, but has not been fully formed as yet. I have noticed that this tablet runs very cool, even when the battery is charging. Beyond the AC Charger, the tablet can be recharged via your PC computer using a Type-A USB cable with a 2.5mm connector.

USB connectivity to a Windows XP computer provides access to both the internal SD RAM and my external 32GB SD Card for file transfers. Bluetooth connectivity to both my Windows XP PC and Smartphone I5 was quick and easy, although I have not utilized the Bluetooth capability for file transfers.

All the usual programs like Android 4.1.1, Chrome, Google Search, Gmail, Flash 11.1, ES File Explorer, ES Task Mgr., Google Music, Documents to Go, Google
Play Store, Maps, and more (some Chinese) are pre-installed.

The internet video streaming of news and movies is the best I have seen to date.

I have found that the 3G capability works, but not so great here in the USA. The tablet takes a standard SIM card. It connects onto the EDGE 2 network only, which is very slow. I have not been able to get it to find the faster 3G, 4G (LTE) networks. The printed (.pdf) M8 User Instruction says the specifications are as follows:

HSPA/WCDMA: 2100/900MHz and GSM/GPRS/EDGE Quad band: 850/900/1800/1900
Download maximum 7.2Mbit/s and Upload maximum: 5.76Mbit/s

All this simply means that the tablets are supposed to be totally suitable for use on an international basis. In the USA the choice of carrier is limited to either AT&T or T-Mobile because only they support the WCDMA (HSPA & EDGE) 850/1900 frequency bands. The tablet only supports the Edge (2G) 850/1900MHz frequency bands, but does not support the WCDMA (HSPA) 3G 850/1900 frequency bands. And, based on its IMEI number, the AT&T provisioning system will identify it as a 2G device of "Unknown Manufacturer" and "Unknown GSM".:(

While I have not yet used the HDMI connectivity, I noticed that once turned "ON" there are Resolution, Screen Zoom and Screen Timeout controls.
 
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BamaPanda

Member
Oct 6, 2011
119
4
Some have called the M8 Pro the best china tab there is right now.

Here is a well done video to spread the joy!
 
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