Solved! Optimize Aspire One Netbook for HULU?

donpacific2k

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Dec 23, 2008
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Hi all. I recently acquired an Aspire One netbook (Atom N450, 1gb Ram, GMA3150, Windows 7). I'm interested in optimizing it as much as possible for playing Hulu videos. When I put it in full screen the video is a little choppy, even at 360p and 280p bitrates. Any suggestions?? I am not opposed to overclocking if that could be done.

Here's the 3 things I've tried:
-Flash 10.1- no apparent difference (I don't believe it does anything special for the 3150 anyway)
-Reducing screen res to 800x600- helps a little, but screws up the aspect ratio (and you get postage stamp effect if you correct it). 640x480 was even more inconvenient to use and didn't appear to improve the situation.
-Under the GMA power options, setting it to highest graphics performance mode.

Anything else? Or anyone else who's gotten Hulu to run decent on a slower netbook?
 
Solution
Unfortunately, with netbooks, there isn't much you can do, as viewing flash videos is a hardware intense process. Compared to a decent laptop set up, a netbook has a rather weak CPU and GPU. It's impossible to get a better CPU in it, as it is a different socket compared to a full fledged notebook CPU. GPU wise, I'm certain that the chip is actually soldered to the motherboard.

Just about the only thing you can do would be to save up and buy a notebook at some point in the future if you cannot take it.
Unfortunately, with netbooks, there isn't much you can do, as viewing flash videos is a hardware intense process. Compared to a decent laptop set up, a netbook has a rather weak CPU and GPU. It's impossible to get a better CPU in it, as it is a different socket compared to a full fledged notebook CPU. GPU wise, I'm certain that the chip is actually soldered to the motherboard.

Just about the only thing you can do would be to save up and buy a notebook at some point in the future if you cannot take it.
 
Solution

donpacific2k

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Dec 23, 2008
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Oh I know for sure Flash is the culprit for being such a resource hog. Netflix (i.e. Silverlight) works pretty well. The thing is, it's so close to doing fine with Hulu... it seems like an extra 10-20% bump in performance would be enough to smooth out the choppiness to an acceptable level. I just hate to even pull out my battery sucking laptop now when the netbook is so convenient