I've read (and mused) about the X8 here earlier. They now are up to the X9 but for 1/3 more I don't need the higher res panel. This will be a candidate next media center -- my current one is a tiny Dell laptop. I only do audio but the Pipo can do basic video (Big deal, probably a watch can nowadays !!! ). I will provide a report if I do anything exceptional with it.
In unrelated news, I am pleased to report that somehow, I passed my exam for my MA degree, despite my life of leisure and spending too much time here, building hare-brained audio junk, and decorative painting my home and car and anything else that will stand still
In unrelated news, I am pleased to report that somehow, I passed my exam for my MA degree, despite my life of leisure and spending too much time here, building hare-brained audio junk, and decorative painting my home and car and anything else that will stand still
Arrived but...
everything works well except none of the four USB ports. This is pretty much a deal killer since kind of hard to attach external storage (or perhaps DACs etc.) I have already spent way too much time (hours) searching the Net for answers, none of which have helped. Since it is a "fail" out of the box, I am trying for a return to the seller. So add $20 (?) or whatever return postage will be. The X8 does have promise, it boots and works nicely, screen has good resolution but I have bad eyesight
Further reports later if (when) I get a 2nd unit. For now, Pipo gets "F" for quality control
everything works well except none of the four USB ports. This is pretty much a deal killer since kind of hard to attach external storage (or perhaps DACs etc.) I have already spent way too much time (hours) searching the Net for answers, none of which have helped. Since it is a "fail" out of the box, I am trying for a return to the seller. So add $20 (?) or whatever return postage will be. The X8 does have promise, it boots and works nicely, screen has good resolution but I have bad eyesight
Further reports later if (when) I get a 2nd unit. For now, Pipo gets "F" for quality control
From an ebay seller. I screwed around with it long enough to determine that at least two of four parts do have power, but I was never able to get the PC to recognize any connected flash drive even in the BIOS. Time to give up and hopefully get a refund or exchange from the seller.
Sent from my pc1162 using Tapatalk
Sent from my pc1162 using Tapatalk
Ebay seller asked I take a video of the defect and email it to him. Since the video was about 170 Meg, I am at least smart enough to know it won't attach. I posted it on my web site and asked him to view it if he wishes Meanwhile, I searched for a working (?) Pipo unit (might as well get a spare.) I found a Pipo X9 for $99, $8 cheaper than the X8! (OK it has a UK plug, nothing an adaptor can't fix...) I give up, I just do not understand capitalism
Meanwhile, I searched for a working (?) Pipo unit (might as well get a spare.) I found a Pipo X9 for $99, $8 cheaper than the X8! (OK it has a UK plug, nothing an adaptor can't fix...) I give up, I just do not understand capitalism
12/22 - got my refund for the buggy X8. I returned it pre-paid to seller and it took prodding by escalation at Ebay to get my cost back but yay! I am whole again. I'm still impatiently waiting for the X9 to arrive, and to find out why it was $40 cheaper than other X9 from same source (GearBest)...? More to follow.
Pipo X9 received, set up and (apparently) working!
New toy has arrived. It seems to work ok, including th all important USB ports. I'm guessing this is a "open box" return; still was excellent deal: $99 vs $140 typical price. After hours of futzing around I have ("Maybe") a good backup of this unit. For a 32 GB "disk" (EMMC?) it has 19 partitions (!). Acronis only saw one I'm using a freeware app called Clonezilla and Rufus (to make USB bootable stick) and it seems to work. Have already deleted out Win10 useless apps (most of them!) with envisioned use of this box for ...
Media center? Network file share? This is what the existing (laptop) is doing...
New toy has arrived. It seems to work ok, including th all important USB ports. I'm guessing this is a "open box" return; still was excellent deal: $99 vs $140 typical price. After hours of futzing around I have ("Maybe") a good backup of this unit. For a 32 GB "disk" (EMMC?) it has 19 partitions (!). Acronis only saw one
I'm using a freeware app called Clonezilla and Rufus (to make USB bootable stick) and it seems to work. Have already deleted out Win10 useless apps (most of them!) with envisioned use of this box for ...Media center? Network file share? This is what the existing (laptop) is doing...
I bought the X8 and recently had a chance to run it as a USB music server. I caught a $75 sale for the win8 version and upgraded it to win10. I can report that I got the best performance I've had in digital in my system with it. With the PlayPcmWin player and Audiophile Optimizer tweak code, I get a very natural sound either as direct USB source to a Nuforce DDA-100 digital input amp, or as a source of SPDIF signal after conversion from USB signal via a cheap Ebay TI PCM2704 board. This source is clearly better in image and tone compared to my previous QA-100 SD card reader and Onkyo CD C-7030 SPDIF sources. X8 USB output gets a cleanup from series connection of Audioquest Jitterbug to Schiit Wyrd to Belkin hub.
Another interesting thing is that you can switch over to android side of the X8 and compare it to the win10 side. I have USB Audio Pro and Hiby android music player apps. And they clearly lag behind PlayPcmWin in sound quality.
Unfortunately, though I am happy with the bargain music server I got, I am unable to use the X8 as a satisfactory HTPC due to the video output formats. None of the formats give the correct aspect ratio with screen filling on either my 720P or 1080 Samsungs. Anybody out there have this problem?
Another interesting thing is that you can switch over to android side of the X8 and compare it to the win10 side. I have USB Audio Pro and Hiby android music player apps. And they clearly lag behind PlayPcmWin in sound quality.
Unfortunately, though I am happy with the bargain music server I got, I am unable to use the X8 as a satisfactory HTPC due to the video output formats. None of the formats give the correct aspect ratio with screen filling on either my 720P or 1080 Samsungs. Anybody out there have this problem?
This is a very nice find. Though I'd opt for the PIPO X9 64GB, which costs nearly twice as much over here in Germany, but it seems to have advanced quite a bit from the previous version. At €150 it is still very affordable. Too bad, they don't have a battery built in. And too bad, they ship with such an old version of Android, that can't be even removed.
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