help for: Fix video streaming on older Sony VAIO netbook?

[ikrous]

Sony VAIO VPCW121AX

Dear Experts,

I found this almost non-used machine at home and wanted to make it a backup one for my work. Upgraded its RAM from 1 to 2GB.

Yet still can't get streaming videos to run normally.
Tried also tips from forums to tweak 'hardware acceleration' in browsers, tested different browsers and streaming website, the problem is the same everywhere:
the audio is more or less ok, but video is patchy, lag-ish, even if I wait for it all to load first before playing. Soon after that, the whole PC freezes for 5-10sec..; had the video problem even before ram upgrade;

People play videos on much older machines so there must be a way.

+
I performed almost all 'slow or old-pc optimization tips' I found [incl. virus clean w/ Avira, disk cleanup, defragmenting, start-up progs. cleanup, all win7 updates, newest Java, tweaking off visual settings, power settings to performance, etc.]
but still the pc is somehow slow.
I also have an Mac Air mid-2011 running Mavericks with 2gb ram and is MUCH much faster than this machine.

|Do you have any more ideas to fix the video streaming at least?
Thanks for considering.



PS- as I continue seeking reasons, I noticed that Flash content eg games are also choppy in the same ways as the streaming videos; have the latest Flash updates.

 

[1shado1]

Sony VAIO VPCW121AX

Dear Experts,

I found this almost non-used machine at home and wanted to make it a backup one for my work. Upgraded its RAM from 1 to 2GB.

Yet still can't get streaming videos to run normally.
Tried also tips from forums to tweak 'hardware acceleration' in browsers, tested different browsers and streaming website, the problem is the same everywhere:
the audio is more or less ok, but video is patchy, lag-ish, even if I wait for it all to load first before playing. Soon after that, the whole PC freezes for 5-10sec..; had the video problem even before ram upgrade;

People play videos on much older machines so there must be a way.

+
I performed almost all 'slow or old-pc optimization tips' I found [incl. virus clean w/ Avira, disk cleanup, defragmenting, start-up progs. cleanup, all win7 updates, newest Java, tweaking off visual settings, power settings to performance, etc.]
but still the pc is somehow slow.
I also have an Mac Air mid-2011 running Mavericks with 2gb ram and is MUCH much faster than this machine.

|Do you have any more ideas to fix the video streaming at least?
Thanks for considering.



PS- as I continue seeking reasons, I noticed that Flash content eg games are also choppy in the same ways as the streaming videos; have the latest Flash updates.

Could the issue be the weak N280 Atom processor in that netbook?

Or maybe an iffy wireless card? How does it do on videos that aren't streamed?

 

[ikrous]

Thank you for posting.

I tried downloading and playing a high quality video off Youtube, 110MB. It caused it to go 'crazy' making a constant beep for a few minutes before the Blue Screen

I also thought the processor may be the reason, BUT
these 2 facts made me ask about the issue here,
1. This pc has surely been able of play streaming videos when it came out in 2009-10.
2. iPad 1 still can play such videos and its cpu is maybe not much faster either.

What do you and others think?

 

[1shado1]

Will it do the same thing if you download a low quality video and try playing it? Also try streaming a low quality video.
When it blue screened, what kind of error was indicated?

 

[1shado1]

Does this help?

"Netbooks with single core Atom processors- N450, N455, N470, N475, N270, N280
Netbooks having this type of processor will not be able to play HD content, 480p being the best standard they’ll be able to handle. These 1.5-1.66 GHZ processors are first and second generation Atom chips and have old integrated graphics. These netbooks even find it hard to launch animations for some software (loading animations, some transitions) and 720p and 1080p is completely out of the question.
There are a couple of codecs and software packs that promise HD playback on lower spec-ed machines, but basically these apps will lower the quality of the clip, maybe keeping its original aspect ratio. Also, it doesn’t matter how much RAM do you have installed or which version of the OS you got on the netbook- HD content is simply not going to happen. Anyway, these netbooks usually have low res screens, so you wouldn’t be able to enjoy great video even if the processor could handle it."

 

[ikrous]

to 1shado1:
That seems quite right and supports your first idea about the anemic processor. HD is truly out of the question.

I tested what you asked:
-the problem exists as well when watching yout.@ 240p
-a 7MB, 5min video downloaded at 144p - it played it without Blue screen, but still a is choppy and messing sound and video,
I tried clogging the cpu up with the high HD 100mb video in order to take a note of the Blue screen information, but it did handle it this time and played it 1 frame per 10-20sec

Should I push more for the Blue screen and record its data to show the error?