I am reaching the point of desperation. I bought a Pipo X7 to use as a streaming computer. From the beginning I have had problems. I have a fair bit of general computer knowledge but this is over my head. I cannot get any support from the Chinese supplier.
When I try to stream anything, it usually works normally for a period of time. I have even been able to stream complete films on occasion. But very often the video will soon become choppy and the sound will break up. This will continue to deteriorate until the screen fills with random garble and everything just stops. Sometimes the stream recovers and starts playing normally again for short periods but often it just ceases. When it stops so does everything else. I can’t open Task Manager or go to the desktop because it takes minutes for anything to respond to a mouse click. If I am able to exit the browser things sometimes return to normal and I can restart the stream.
I seem to have the worst problems with the ABC 24-hour news stream. This is low quality and streams at around 60 kilobytes a second. I have been using it to run tests. Usually it falls apart after just a few minutes, though if I let it run it seems to go up and down. I just made a test recording of one hour and most of it is an absolute mess. I had my speed monitor open in a window and it displayed normal download speeds of between 55 and 60 kilobytes a second, though at one point it did drop to 0 for a short time. As a check I then immediately ran the same stream on my desktop computer. It ran for an hour without any problem, also at around 60 kilobytes a second.
The Pipo runs a version of Windows 8.1 optimised for tablets. I have tweaked every setting I can find for maximum performance instead of energy efficiency. I have tried different browsers. I have installed every relevant Windows and driver update I can find. I have disabled unnecessary services. I just ran the Windows diagnostic and it says it can find no memory issues. I have also tried both Ethernet and wi-fi and that seems to make no difference.
I am running out of ideas. If anyone else has any, I would sure like to hear them.
[Edited to correct layout]