[mkh]

very very disappointing..am goin to wait for rams w30 and chigon c4!!

[Tablet_Collector]

Malaquai, on 09 October 2012 - 03:04 AM, said:

Hi Jez, te pipo m3 has 1 or 2 Gb for apps ? Very thanks

It has 1Gb for apps.

leemac, on 09 October 2012 - 03:52 AM, said:

Hi Jez
Cheers for your information. It is extemely helpful to get honest opinions from people who have actually used and tested the tablets, especially for newbies like me!!
I have to say though, it has muddied the waters somewhat! My shortlist which was down to 2 (M1 & M3) is now back to 5 (Window N101-II, Cube U30GT, M1/2/3)!!
I think I am in the same boat as Stanton above, I just want a really decent tab which will be up and running out of the box, obviously with great options on Google play.
Thanks again
Lee

I would go for Pipo Mix M2 if you are happy with the 9.7 inch screen (4:3). For 10.1 inch (16:10) go for the Cube U30GT-H or Window N101-II or wait and see if Pipo sort out the M3. I am really liking the M2 at the moment even though I am a big fan of the 10.1 inch form factor. I'll post some M2 screenshots compared to the M1 soon.

JJovian, on 09 October 2012 - 06:58 AM, said:

I've also ordered Pipo M3 (+ Teclast P85HD - will choose which to leave for myself later).
Jezzer, you are really dissapointing me with your Pipo M3 experience...
But I believe it is not hardware problem.

Yes I cannot believe it is a h/w problem either as I know of others with the same issues. I have emailed Pipo this afternoon to see if they can provide any fixes/explanations/etc. Everyone who has this issue should contact them; the more we put pressure on them the more they will take notice!

Droidyouarelooking4, on 09 October 2012 - 07:34 AM, said:

I too own a pipo m3 and have the same problem with the CPU clocking at 252MHZ. It must be a firmware problem. I also have an issue with SD cards freezing getting corrupted. I have used 4 different ones made by three manufacturers. All of them were formatted NTFS and FAT32 on different machines just to be sure. One card is corrupted so bad that I can't recover it. This tablet is turning out to be a joke.

Let's just hope Pipo can put out a new firmware to fix the problems soon

Jez

[JJovian]

Jezzer, on 09 October 2012 - 09:31 AM, said:

I'll post some M2 screenshots compared to the M1 soon.

Oh, it would be great to add Pipo M3 for comparison!

[lanosalf]

Droidyouarelooking4, on 09 October 2012 - 07:34 AM, said:

I too own a pipo m3 and have the same problem with the CPU clocking at 252MHZ. It must be a firmware problem. I also have an issue with SD cards freezing getting corrupted. I have used 4 different ones made by three manufacturers. All of them were formatted NTFS and FAT32 on different machines just to be sure. One card is corrupted so bad that I can't recover it. This tablet is turning out to be a joke.

I'm definitely not an expert, but from my knowledge this "sdcard problems" wasn't present in any china tabs till now. Is not only you get problems detecting and using the sdcard, also they get corrupted, even these new tablets are damaging irreparably some sdcard.
From all of the "China Tab's" "common problems", sdcard problems wasn't in the list, till now. This is one of the most "dangerous" problems of all, because you can lost important data from you sdcard.

I wonder why this sdcard problem start appearing now in china tab's, and if it is related to the sdcard permission issues in jelly bean, but they seem unrelated as one is only a firmware issue that cannot damage any card as it is happening.

This post has been edited by lanosalf: 09 October 2012 - 10:25 AM

[ciruelo]

If it's only the fw causing all the issues, it could be easily fixed by the company.
My main concern is that it could be something more present in the hw, which wouldn't make much sense if the company has actually released the product... who knows anyway.
I will wait for a week or so to see if the problem can be solved before taking a decision on my purchase.
The brand, the speakers and the build quality had me convinced. Pity this happened.

[Ikzouhetnietweten]

Jezzer, you seem to know quite a lot. I wanted to buy a Pipo M3, but as I read this and other sites, I dont want to buy this one anymore. Could you give me any hints/tips which tablet to buy? I got about 230 USD to spend. Its gotta have the 3066 RK chip as this is the fastest around. Let me know, thanks. Thijs

[Roman2025]

Hey Jez,

I just got my M3 sample today. It runs great. At least it did... until I installed Antutu Benchmark to check what you were saying. Now it runs horribly.

I checked the processor speed with Elixir 2 before I installed Antutu and it was running at 816 Mhz so it wasn't stuck.

I checked with App Monster and noted Antutu has a background service running. I think the problem is with Antutu and NOT with the tablet per se' other than something with Antutu is interacting poorly with something on the tablet.

To those with SD card corruption issues. This has been a problem noted across multiple RK3066 tabs running Jelly Bean.

I also sell the Yuandao N101 II. I like the M3 better. The N101 II does have a slightly nicer screen. But the M3 is WAY BETTER built, the speakers are great, it is FCC and CE certified.

I did note my M3 was a LITTLE bit sluggish but I noted the same thing on the N101 II which as also using the same horrid launcher these companies seem to favor. Once I get the stock JB launcher on it I am sure it will be just fine.

If someone has a link to the stock firmware I would be happy to start working on a custom rom.

For the time being, I would recommend owners avoid Antutu.

Kind Regards,

Roman

EDIT: Thanks for your thoughts on the M2! I will have to give it a go now! I had avoided messing with it before as I felt it was a bit superfluous vs. the M1 but it sounds like they made some good changes on it.

EDIT2: I uninstalled Antutu Benchmark and the M3 immediately became more responsive

This post has been edited by Roman2025: 09 October 2012 - 12:30 PM

[Roman2025]

I will try to do a comparison review in the next day or so between the M3 and the N101 II.

I don't carry Cube products because that company can't QC its stuff to save their life (super high fail rate) and they are constantly release product revisions that fragment their firmware releases. I am not saying they are a bad unit (as long as you get a good one) I am just saying those kinds of issues are HELL for a retailer . The M3 also has CE and FCC certifications. That is a huge deal because it means PiPo actually is trying to compete in the real western market and if it really is CE and FCC certified it means they spent a LOT of money on development. PiPo has from Day 1 impressed me because they take their products seriously and they do a good job supporting them.

I am not just saying this because I sell their stuff, I say this because I have sold other stuff (Ainol, OEM brands, Wopad, etc.) that absolutely suck and you can tell the companies don't give a rip about their product or the customer.

My 2-cents and I am not trying to discourage folks from criticizing the unit OR putting pressure on PiPo to fix problems in firmware. I am not trying to belittle real problems either. I don't know why Antutu breaks this device so badly but it does and it doesn't break others so that would seem to indicate a firmware issue of some kind.

What I am saying is that I think PiPo is a significantly better brand (like Onda) and my gut feeling is that M3 owners by and large will be happier in the long run vs. Cube, unless Cube has suddenly seen the light and started building good products from the ground up rather than doing the Ainol thing and beta testing and tweaking units that are already released.

Cheers,

Roman

[Tablet_Collector]

Hey Roman,

I'm glad your M3 is running better than mine! When I saw your post I thought "great" an easy fix
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case

First I uninstalled any Antutu related apps. The tablet seemed a bit more responsive after this but Android System Info (and Elixir 2) still showed it as running at 252Mhz all the time. I really hate the launcher too so I tried Apex just in case the default one was adding any lags. No joy.

The real issue aside from the slow CPU speed is that certain apps that are user installed "lock up" when you try and run them. The only way out is to reset the tablet (long hold the power or use the reset switch). It seems to only affect apps that the user installs and then not all of them. Most of the built-in apps seem to work ok. In fact having done a bit more testing it seems to be only benchmark apps that lock up so far e.g. Quadrant, Antutu, CFBench, Nenamark2 all freeze the tablet and probably others that I haven't tried yet. Other apps I tried which don't freeze are Android System Info, Elixir 2, ES File Explorer and Root Checker. No frills CPU locks up when you try to apply a new governor setting. Incidentally ZhuoDashi rooted the M3 without any issues (The Pipo Mix M2 was trickier - Zhuodashi didn't work but the method on Vondroid half worked, then I had to copy SuperSu.apk manually and change its file permissions).

The Pipo firmware page has been down all day but here it is anyway. I can't help thinking that either a new firmware or a fresh flash of the same firmware would solve these problems.

By the way I hope you like the Pipo Mix M2. The styling is a little different to the M1 and may not be to everyone's taste. Personally I prefer it. The screen is brighter and of course the speakers are the deal clincher. I'll be posting some screen shots tonight. UPDATE: See here.

Jez

This post has been edited by Jezzer: 09 October 2012 - 02:34 PM

[Roman2025]

Hey Jez,

That is EXACTLY what happened when I tried to run Antutu. Total system freeze. I wonder if it has something to do with apps that toy with the CPU? Elixir 2 just displays info.

I absolutely love the M3 tab. Quality is perfect and I feel much better about it than the Yuandao N101 II as far as that goes. The FCC and CE certs really drive it home for me. I will install a bunch more apps and games and see what happens. I think the CPU is somehow finnicky.

If someone could get M3 firmware that would be wonderful

[Roman2025]

It could be a permissions file issue. I have noticed on one unit that toying heavily with the permissions issues really caused system stalls and freezes (N90 II)

Regards,

Roman

[leemac]

Jez
I dont think the problems with the M3 locking up is isolated to your machine. I have been reading some buyer feed back on e bay and there are a few comments mentioning the same as you.
It seems I can strike the M3 off my list for the time being anyway.
Lee

[Roman2025]

Okay, so in my firmware modding experience I tried the PiPo launcher from the M1 on the Yuandao N101 II and it ran like CRAP. Some launcher run well on one platform and not on others and I don't know why.

I tried Apex, it ran like shite

I tried Nova, it is thus far running VERY smoothly.

I used app monster and uninstalled all the chinese apps I could without root at present.

I used Advanced Task killer with security set to LOW and killed all things that I know are not google or I don't want running. (For example, the provision service was still running? which should only run on first boot).

I killed the live wallpaper and went with a regular wallpaper.

All of the above should NOT be necessary for a smooth running tab, but my guess is that the launcher is poorly optimized and something is definitely going on with the processor (especially on your tab) as any app that touches it locks up.

Regards,

Roman

[Tablet_Collector]

Ikzouhetnietweten, on 09 October 2012 - 11:47 AM, said:

Jezzer, you seem to know quite a lot. I wanted to buy a Pipo M3, but as I read this and other sites, I dont want to buy this one anymore. Could you give me any hints/tips which tablet to buy? I got about 230 USD to spend. Its gotta have the 3066 RK chip as this is the fastest around. Let me know, thanks. Thijs

Well if you must have a Chinese tablet with a 10.1 inch screen and RK3066 SoC then the choice is Pipo Movie M3 (wait and see if firmware resolves the issues that I and others are having), Yuandao (Window) N101-II (and variants) or Cube U30GT-H. I have owned a Cube U30GT (one of the first W models) and it worked fine apart from the SD card corruption issue which seems to affect most RK3066 tablets (maybe a Rockchip issue?). The workaround I found was to either format the card as NTFS or use it in a USB stick adapter. Both Cube and Yuandao have suffered QC issues although maybe Cube more than Yuandao (it's hard to get exact figures). The screen on the Cube U30GT-H that I borrowed to compare with the M3 was definitely brighter than the M3. At the end of the day it's your choice and be aware that it is a bit of a lottery; you may get a bad one with all that entails. This is why in the end after being lucky buying direct from China I decided to buy locally in the UK with a UK warranty and pay slightly more before my luck ran out.

Good luck with your decision,
Jez

[Roman2025]

UPDATE: My processor is now always reporting 252 Mhz... but this can't possibly be the speed at all times. The tablet just plain runs too smoothly. I mean like games and stuff. I just ran temple run and it booted right up and played very smoothly. Moving to NOVA launcher and doing as I said in my last post smooth out the device immensely. I am convinced the processor is reporting wrong and that the issue lies somehow with the stock launcher and/or some of the installed Chinese apps.

I am even using a live wallpaper again and it is buttery smooth with NOVA.

Will keep updating as I continue testing and putting stuff on it.

Regards,

Roman

[leemac]

Jez
I notice that you no longer include the M1 in your 'recommended' list. Is this because of the emergeance of the newer Pipo models or that your rate Window N101-II and U30gt higher?
Many thanks again.
Lee

[Tablet_Collector]

Roman2025, on 09 October 2012 - 02:32 PM, said:

Hey Jez,

That is EXACTLY what happened when I tried to run Antutu. Total system freeze. I wonder if it has something to do with apps that toy with the CPU? Elixir 2 just displays info.

I absolutely love the M3 tab. Quality is perfect and I feel much better about it than the Yuandao N101 II as far as that goes. The FCC and CE certs really drive it home for me. I will install a bunch more apps and games and see what happens. I think the CPU is somehow finnicky.

If someone could get M3 firmware that would be wonderful

Yes agreed - maybe apps that address the CPU in some way. I really want the M3 to be the must have 10.1 inch tablet too but despite all the tweaking it definitely is not running right yet.

Roman2025, on 09 October 2012 - 02:33 PM, said:

It could be a permissions file issue. I have noticed on one unit that toying heavily with the permissions issues really caused system stalls and freezes (N90 II)
Regards,
Roman

Could well be. I should say that my M3 was running like this before I rooted it so hopefully the rooting process didn't cause any issues. Could be permission issues on other system files though.

leemac, on 09 October 2012 - 02:35 PM, said:

Jez
I dont think the problems with the M3 locking up is isolated to your machine. I have been reading some buyer feed back on e bay and there are a few comments mentioning the same as you. It seems I can strike the M3 off my list for the time being anyway.
Lee

I know of 3 other people on here with the same issues so I guess it's not isolated. Actually I rang Ingadget who said the other one they have is the same.

Roman2025, on 09 October 2012 - 02:45 PM, said:

Okay, so in my firmware modding experience I tried the PiPo launcher from the M1 on the Yuandao N101 II and it ran like CRAP. Some launcher run well on one platform and not on others and I don't know why.

I tried Apex, it ran like shite

I tried Nova, it is thus far running VERY smoothly.

I used app monster and uninstalled all the chinese apps I could without root at present.

I used Advanced Task killer with security set to LOW and killed all things that I know are not google or I don't want running. (For example, the provision service was still running? which should only run on first boot).

I killed the live wallpaper and went with a regular wallpaper.

All of the above should NOT be necessary for a smooth running tab, but my guess is that the launcher is poorly optimized and something is definitely going on with the processor (especially on your tab) as any app that touches it locks up.

Regards,

Roman

I should also have said that I went for a plain non-live wallpaper suspecting that the "clouds" one was sapping some CPU horsepower and also removed all of the Chinese bloatware. I'll try Nova and your other suggestions and see what happens.

Thanks
Jez

[Gis]

Jezzer, on 09 October 2012 - 02:52 PM, said:

This is why in the end after being lucky buying direct from China I decided to buy locally in the UK with a UK warranty and pay slightly more before my luck ran out.

Good luck with your decision,
Jez

Would you mind me asking whom do you use in the UK Jez ?

As I`m getting cold feet from ordering direct from china !

[Tablet_Collector]

Gis, on 09 October 2012 - 03:07 PM, said:

Would you mind me asking whom do you use in the UK Jez ?

As I`m getting cold feet from ordering direct from china !

No problem it's Ingadget

Jez

This post has been edited by Jezzer: 09 October 2012 - 03:17 PM

[Roman2025]

Just tried the flying game, RiseOfGlory, smooth as silk but I am pretty sure the processor reported 252 mhz the whole time. Very odd behavior...