streaming with compaq mini 110

Hi everyone

I have tried to stream on LCD external monitor using my compaq mini but the picture keeps freezing. I have got to play through my LCD monitor but now when I try to watch You Tube etc I experience the same problem as with my much older IBM Thinkpad r50e. My friend said Thinkpads are known to have very limited graphic capability but I didn't think I would have the same problem with the Compaq which is only 3 years old. The specs are:
1.6 ghz processor
1gig ram
Graphics Processor: Intel GMA 950
Graphics Memory 128MB

Please advise what I need to do!

Many thanks

Matthew

 

Hi my friend , do you try plug in another monitor ? If you have the same result , your graphics card is out of use :wave

 

You have a netbook; these are low end limited processors. (I own two and I play video loaded on USB sticks or sdhc cards rather than stream over the internet and hooked up to a different monitor).
If you want to stream a video from YouTube, you need to pause it and let the buffering catch up. Once you see enough has loaded, then press the play button.

 

I had a very similar model, an HP Mini 210, and had no problem playing youtube videos on it. My son has it now. I did upgrade my Mini from 1GB to 2GB of RAM. You could do the same. Crucial has RAM for your netbook; see http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=Compaq Mini 110&Cat=RAM

 

Thanks everyone for getting back. I understand that playing onto my 26" external monitor takes more RAM than just playing on my netbook screen so I will get more more RAM if that is going to solve the problem - I wanted to clarify whether it was RAM or the graphics card which was the problem. Or is the processor never going to be up to the job?
I actually want to watch Lovefilm which offers a streaming service. In terms of buffering, how do I know when enough has loaded? Is there a bar or something which tells me this?

Many thanks again for your advice

Matthew

 

The other thing I wanted to check is if it is better to use my Thinkpad R50e after all as the processor is also 1.6 ghz but has a bigger cache 2mb compared to 512kb for the compaq. It has two memory slots rather than one so I could upgrade to 2gb of RAM or 1.5gb if I just replace one of the memory sticks. The graphics processor is Intel Extreme Graphics 2, Dynamic Video Memory Technology 2.0 whereas the compaq mini has Intel GMA 950, Dynamic Video Memory Technology 3.0.

Many thanks again for your expertise

Matthew

 

I believe the HP Mini 210 I mentioned had Intel GMA 3150, which apparently is a bit better graphics processor than what is in your Compaq Mini 110. Still, I'm inclined to think your computer should play most online strreaming video content without lag or frequent buffering; I mean play it on the netbook screen, not an external monitor. Expecting to playing streaming media on an external monitor may simply be unrealistic. Increasing RAM to 2GB, while it will not all be specifically devoted to video function, should make a difference in overall performance, including video.

Perhaps you also need to review what processes you have running in the background and see whether you might be able to free up some CPU resources by stopping one or more background processes. Also, do you use CCleaner or some other tools to periodically clear browser history? If not, I suggest installing CCleaner and using it's file cleanup utility.

I suggest you also run a speed test of your Internet speed. You can do this by going to speedtest.net.

 

Thanks. I definitely want to play on an external monitor. I am not sure if you have Lovefilm in the US but as part of your package you can stream films directly whilst watching them. It would be helpful if you (or anyone) has any thoughts whether it would be better to invest in more RAM for the Thinkpad or the Compaq mini. I am not sure whether there is much difference in their graphics processors but the Thinkpad seems to have a better main processor...