Pinebook Pro Initial Impressions

[User 6582]

Although the wifi speed has improved somewhat with the increased CPU speed, web pages still load much slower than my other laptops. The connection information is still a quarter to half less in the PBP than in the other laptops that I use. I knew that the PBP was a work in process when I bought it but I did expect a machine! that could at least surf the internet, download email, etc. This is a disappointment.  

I'm running Ubuntu with Mate now. I'm wondering if changing to bionic lxde would fix this problem? Any suggestions? (I booted biopic lode from microsd and could not connect to my gateway. Starting to think I got a device with wifi hardware problems).

Question. Is there any actual tech support for these devices?

I think that answers will be more "community supported" than some tech person with a dedicated job.
And to be more specific, we're the test drivers.. So with that comes all of us working together for answers.

WiFi is not a strong point with these devices, BUT there's been discussion earlier of software improvements to make WiFi better. We'll see.

In the meantime, please read through the forum posts and you may get some info that will help with some of this.

And to any question that starts out with "Should I try..." ABSOLUTELY!!! As we're all learning here, anything that helps move us toward greater enlightenment has gotta be a plus....And maybe, get us closer to a Pinebook Pro smooth operation :-)

Rick, thanks for your reply.  I understand this is a community project but what if my wifi problem is a hardware problem?  I've tried everything everyone has suggested as you can see from my posts but it's almost impossible to use the PVP with any internet application. I've seen no one else here describing this problem so I'm assuming my PVP problem is unique. It's not that wifi is a weak point, it's practically unusable. I'm used to working with Linux on arm chromebooks so know something about the architecture. I'm flashing the original debian img file to the PVP now so we'll see.   However it's been a week since I received the device and have not been able to get it working satisfactorily yet.

You're welcome!

Clearly, there's a chance you could of got a klinker piece of hardware.

If it were me, I'd open a support request. From the pine64.org "start" page, along the top is tab listed as "Order Support". Click on it and submit a ticket (did I miss you've already done this?) for the problem. I, for one, will be interested to see how that plays out. If you're dissatisfied with that, perhaps a PM to an administrator, founder or someone like Luke might help it along....

There's absolutely no doubt that, despite best efforts, a hardware glitch could get through. You'll be helping not only yourself, but the rest of us see how the support function works here...

Does that help? :-)

Yes it does help, thanks. I've contacted tech support. I'll keep you posted.

Good Luck & Please do!

We'll all benefit from your experience!!! Standing by!! :-)