X2Pro

[Riccardo Majewski]

@ Jakob Schmidt Rasmussen
Thanks for the report, it will be certainly useful!
I would say that it is normal that not always they can declare a very low price, in my country the inported goods are randomly scanned with x-rays, if they see a tablet, it can’t possibly cost less than 50 bucks (this size even less), so the would estimate a correct prize and appy shipment duty to that.

Sellers have to use a lover price, but not very lower… it’s a gamble 😛
@ Hualalai
Thank for the fast reply!
This is a sad information, but good to know it… I’ll wait before buying anything for the second M.2 slot then…
I’ll try to make a fast usb3 stick with the spare 64GB ssd…
For now I’ve mailed teclast asking info about the second slot …. let’s hope…
Thanks again.

[Robert]

Now the 512GB SSD is installed and working perfectly.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016W1PP5K?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

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[Hualalai]

Great news, thanks Robert.

I ordered the ZTC 512GB 2242 M.2 card.. which listed on Amazon a few days after the Transcend.  USD 164.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Z8BYOWG?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

So, those of us doing the mod will have a 512GB, Core M 5Y10c, 4G, Windows 64 bit 10″ tablet, keyboard, and stylus for about USD 660, which has no equal at present.  The 512GB Lenovo Miix 700 is USD 1100, but is 12″, and 4G is presently unavailable and … no pen.    The Surface Pro 4 has no 4G option, is 12″, and the 512GB version with keyboard is USD 2300+.   Although the Lenovo CPU is an M7 in that model, and the SP4 is an i7u, and both have more RAM and pixels, they are way overpriced vs. the X2 Pro… and I have (on order) an HP ZBook Studio 15″ with a i7-6700HQ and UHD IPS panel that kicks the SP4’s ass for the same price as that SP4.  I think Teclast have hit a home run with the X2 Pro and don’t know it.

 

[Robert]

Super, I am cloning with this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0146DD6KM?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

Very fast….:)

[Hualalai]

I use ZTC enclosures that accommodate any 22mm wide M.2 card.

http://www.amazon.com/ZTC-Enclosure-Adapter-SuperSpeed-ZTC-EN004-G/dp/B00OYIS5RY/ref=pd_sim_sbs_147_3?ie=UTF8&dpID=41L%2BYL7jKdL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=0FWNG8PZ3JYJXEYAP5A9

I use Acronis to clone.  What do you use?

Also, please inspect your main board for solder tags -, +, D-, and D+… which indicate an unused USB port.  See. http://techtablets.com/forum/topic/add-a-full-size-usb-port-on-x98-pro/  My guess is that the X2 Pro has all USB ports fully configured, but it would be great to drop the guts of a 5GHz ac wifi  dongle inside the case.

Also on the mod list is a LiPo battery with higher power density… but that’s not urgent.

 

[Robert]

I use this with USB bootstick:
http://www.paragon-software.com/small-business/hdm-business/

I’ll look when I get the modem….:)

[Robert]

For at home I have this LAN connection:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014ZOJX7W/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_3?pf_rd_p=1944687502&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00LM07HG2&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1JMNNSFQARSS4HPE5V0K

Inside WiFi ist very bad…:(

My new project is on the old SSD with USB a Linux Debian … 🙂

Merry Christmas

[Hualalai]

@ Robert.  You’ll have Christmas in Europe, with your X2 Pro.  My X2 Pro should tomorrow, in time for Christmas in the States.

Merry Christmas.

[Jakob Schmidt Rasmussen]

are there any tacky software on this fellow…

just recived it yesterday, and havent done an clean install just charge it up from the dead state 0% it arrived in and connected to network/router and would try it out before making any canvas for further & permanent use..

but cant connect either to Onedrive or just the store where it gives command”the server stumpled ‘ we have all bad days” and Onedrive just says signing-in for decades..

but getting numerous warnings about certificate..

tryed onedrive-mainsite, where it stated warning about, signs of malicius software trying to snipe values, and would be a shame trying to log-in numrous places and then realizing thats one log in values have been comprimise with bad-software lurking on the tablet..

//MEmuConsole.exe mandatory? (arhh seems to be an android emulator founded in Chinese that can be quite a handfull to baffle thrue and make sense of  CN Change

 

Hualalai wrote:

 @Jakob. Please don’t take this the wrong way, but may I suggest that you move your Gearworst experience to the Gearbest thread in the “online retailers” subforum in the General forum, where it will benefit more members. What would be very helpful in your post in this thread is your experience with the X2 Pro itself.

nahh ‘ my first post and just got it about an hour before my post , so restricted how much experience i can put focus on, but still numerous information about my first impressions and big and small, but i can see you post are only an few minutes after mine, and it was under edit, so likely only the GB experience i had trumped’ where my impression of purchasing 3 of these X2 at Gearbest with numerous packages over the last few months was present, but overall will take a look on site and see if the could come handy there…

(sorry for the kukkilikuk in BB codes, trying to make sense, any sandbox on site?.. 🙂  )

[Jakob Schmidt Rasmussen]

Riccardo Majewski wrote:

@ Jakob Schmidt Rasmussen
Thanks for the report, it will be certainly useful!
I would say that it is normal that not always they can declare a very low price, in my country the inported goods are randomly scanned with x-rays, if they see a tablet, it can’t possibly cost less than 50 bucks (this size even less), so the would estimate a correct prize and appy shipment duty to that. Sellers have to use a lover price, but not very lower… it’s a gamble ?

Agree, also hurried to pay the importfee on the 22/12 when i after work saw the importfee-letter, in the hope that it could arrive next day 23/12 and before all the holidays.. and thankfull it did..

and often they ask that i send the screendumps if it aint value-declared, so in that case it would had been a lot more then 28US fee I had to pay on the value of 20.17US that was put on it.

would also guess that any lower ‘ they would have vague the details and asked that i send the information.

but useally all the firms put value in the amount of 15 til 20US, ewen thow it cost 500US or just 15US and likel on a cheap multirotor to 20US, valued at 15 you should pay an importfee of 25US.. that doesnt make sense and you have to just let it go back, since you dont wanne pay 3 times the actually value of the item..

But sofare most of the sites like Banggood and Gearbest doesnt take pay-out details of the limit, and likely an atomated process that they always put the amount of 15 to 20US and keep it in that ballpark.

But seems extreme that Denmark now operates with 11.50US  as limit, and parcels declared to 12US gets mandatory fee of 25USUS+ 25% of valueamount and what i can sense its significantly lower then our neighboring countries like Sweden, [Norway] Germany and England also under EU dictatorship..and doubt that the 11.50 is an EU limit, but nationally another new tax in this tax-hole called Denmark with an effective 75% tax..

wondering about making an fresh install on the X2 and from this thread it seems like ABC and grap the win10 online and it would likely activate itself and perhaps with the risk of loosing the capacitive win key until manuel driver put on..and thats it.?

[Riccardo Majewski]

(long post, sorry guys, too much enthusiasm… XD )

@Jakob

I highly suggest a fresh install of W10 on this tablet. (tought my license was not automatically activated after my method, I had to use “another way” to activate it)

I’ll write a list of things I did…. maybe not strictly necessary, but hey… (someone correct me if some step is questionable)

– with DoubleDriver software do a backup of all drivers in the tablet, a backup outside of the tablet, obviously

– do a backup copy of C:\Windows\INF\TouchSetting.gt file (needed for the capacitive win key), again outside the tablet

– make a bootable UEFI USB drive with the windows 10 .iso

– connect the bootable usb drive + a mouse-keyboard combo in the 2 usb slots

– turn on the tablet and “spam” delete and forward delete buttons to enter the bios

– on the last tab of the bios select manually the usb drive (override) and launch W10 installation

– after w10 is installed do what you need to activate your copy of windows

– connect to the internet trought wifi, do all updates (do multiple reboots, and multiple check for updates)

– when finished with updates do a reboot and go to device manager (right click on windows logo at bottom left)

– for all unistalled hardware, do manual install and select a folder where to search the drivers, select the backup folder you did with DoubleDriver

– copy back again the TouchSettings.gt file into C:\Windows\INF for the capacitive win key

I’ve done like this and everything seems pretty good.

 

Good news!

My pen arrived! Works great!

(ok not comparable with surface or iPad pro pens, but great for 15$!)

It’s active, with an AAAA battery, it has very less input lag compared to normal touchscreen, good thing.

When you touch the screen with the pen, normal touchscreen will be disabled, to re-enable the normal touchscreen you will have to remove the pen AND the hand(s) from the screen, this is indeed correct, good again.

Microsoft Paint doesn’t read pressure levels on my tablet, but Autodesk Sketchbook DO (it’s a simple app from the store, I’ll search for something better now), this means everything is ok for now.

405$ at GearBest for tablet, keyboard, pen and 64GB microSD + 80$ for shipment duty

80$ for KingSpec 256GB M.2 2242 SSD + 30$ of shipment duty

15$ for glass protector

Total of 610$ for now, and everything seems pretty good! Overall I’m very happy for now.

Cons of the tablet:

– small SSD, 64GB is few for Windows, keep in mind another expense for a bigger one

– 16:9 display, somehow ugly form factor for a tablet, 11.6 inch “seems” a lot, but in reality it’s not much bigger compared an 9.8 inch ipad, it’s just wider with larger borders… meh… we can’t have everything…

– Sharp borders + Heavy (930g) , not really practical as most of other tablets

– Wifi somehow slow

– Runs hot when cpu under medim/high use (people says it’s normal for the cpu it has), copper plates mod required

– Battery is mediocre… maybe

 

[Hualalai]

@ Riccardo, great summary.  I bought a legal Windows 10 Pro key on eBay for USD 60.  As you probably know. Win 10 Home sends “user experience data” (and what else to whom, one wonders…) to Microsoft and it can’t be turned off.  Win 10 Pro and Enterprise allow the user to set what is sent.  Also, the Android emulator may run better under Win10 Pro, since Pro officially supports virtual machines.

 

[Hualalai]

I received my X2 Pro today.  Ordered from Banggood 9 days ago with free shipping.  After being immersed in this thread for a week or so … no surprises.  After an hour of charging, I booted and found 40% battery level.  My X2 Pro/X16 Pro pen (N-Trig) was instantly recognized, made wifi passwords easy to enter.  I updated Win 10 Home so that I have a good M.2 boot drive, then put in the ZTE 512GB, AC600 wifi nano-dongle, USB 3.0 to RJ-45 dongle, and Huawei modem, and install Win 10 Pro.  BTW, my understading is that all Win 10 Home product keys are the same.  MS identifies each computer with a digital fingerprint.  That’s the reason that magicaljellybean or key-finder may come back with a blank, and one reason you cannot prevent a Win 10 Home device from talking to MS.

During the update to Win 10H ‘586, the CPU area of the backplate was at 32C and the AC adapter was at 38C.  The CPU was loaded, but not the GPU, and the AC adapter was maxed.  I think the additional 50C of CPU heat during gaming is coming from the integral GPU.

The stock wifi sucks.  I quickly discovered that being 12″ from the hotspot is MUCH faster than being 12 ft. from the hotspot.   I should have plugged in my USB 3.0 to RJ45 adapter immediately and run in Airplane Mode during the update.  Backed up drivers and the INF file, then opened the back.

HERE’S HOW TO REMOVE THE BACKPLATE OF AN X2 PRO

You will need a hairdryer, or better, a heat gun.  There are no plastic tabs used on the current X2 Pro, but there IS ALOT OF ADHESIVE applied around the edge of the backplate.  The backplate is does not cover the top and bottom 2cm of the back.  That 2 cm, T and B, is plastic.  The backplate is like a flattened “U” that wraps the edges.  The adhesive is only applied around the margin of the backplate, not in the middle.  The thinnest strand is along the side with the USB, SIM (hidden), SD, HDMI, and HP ports.

DO NOT START FROM THE VOLUME/POWER BUTTON SIDE. Heat all along the side with the USB, SIM (hidden), SD, HDMI, and HP ports and back about 6 cm from the edge along the top and bottom.  I used a heatgun at 1150F, high blower, 5cm away, for about 15 seconds.  Insert a spudger between the inboard USB port and the SD port… that is the area of least adhesive… and work the back plate up.  The backplate is aluminum, it will flex easily once the adhesive melts a bit.  Work from the middle of the “ports edge” out to the sides and then back along the T and B edges in the area that you heated.  If the aluminum does not lift up easily, STOP, and apply more heat.  When the adhesive is soft, the backplate lifts up EASILY.  Only lift the backplate up about 5 mm, then put placeholder spudgers in (or guitar picks).  Heat up the middle T and B edges of the backplate, and put placeholders in, then heat up the edge with the volume control and power button, and lift off the backplate.  The volume and power buttons stay attached internally (now you know why you started from the “ports” side.).

You’ll probably need thin metal spudgers to get started in the USB to SD port area, but move to plastic spudgers as soon as you can get plastic spudgers it.  You do NOT want to use metal spudgers in the battery area.

The hot adhesive has a pleasant smell… if you can smell it, it’s past the temperature that it is soft enough to pull off the backplate.

Do not attempt to pull off the backplate without heat… you WILL bend the aluminum.

The thermal mod should really improve cooling.  In my unit, the CPU and eMMC are covered by a screwed down copper plate with a thermal pad on top of the copper plate.  It is clear to see on my unit that the thermal pad is barely contacting the backplate, and then only on about 20% of the area of the copper plate/thermal pad.  The thermal pad is slightly smaller than the copper plate.  I will replace the thin metallized mylar on the backplate (that isn’t making good contact with the thermal pad) with a large copper sheet adhered to the backplate.  If the copper-to-pad contact is still not 100%, I’ll use a thicker thermal pad.

Also, the backplate includes an RF shield in the 4G modem area, even though the modem socket is empty.  Thanks, Teclast.

Chris, I suggest the “how to remove the backplate of an X2 Pro” as a sticky.

[Daniel]

@Hualalai Great written! I too think this would be a sticky. The only thing better then your instructions would be a video-guide… Hint hint.

 

[Daniel]

Ok, so I´ve opened mine now and found out I have a crack in one of my two layers of thermal pad. I guess I should replace them with one thicker instead. Can someone please link me to a pad that I can buy?

[Author]

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