January 7, 2010
The relative low price of Netbooks have enticed many folks to buy these low powered little gems, but all too often, the buyer isn’t really clear about what they are buying. Netbooks are the computer equivalent of a Smart Car; they are not designed to carry lots of people, tow a heavy load, or go really fast. If your computing needs are on the heavier side of the computation scale (live video or gaming) then a Netbook is probably the wrong vehicle.
Choppy video on a Netbook is most likely caused by lack of power or inadequate Internet connection speed. If the video you are playing is loaded on your local hard drive, then the problem is definitely the lack of power in your Netbook. If the video is being streamed from the Internet, there is a small chance that your Internet connection speed is too slow to provide a smooth stream.
The easiest way to check the Internet connection is to run the same video from another computer connected to the same network. If the second machine has the same choppy results, then the problem is either your Internet connection speed (contact your ISP to troubleshoot) or the site that you’re streaming from can’t keep up.
Netbooks were created to access basic Internet content like e-mail, blogs, social media, news sites and basic video, however, you should not expect video to be as smooth as a standard laptop or desktop. Make sure that you’re not trying to view the video in full screen mode and if you’re using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, you will likely get better performance by installing either Mozilla’s Firefox or Google’s Chrome browsers. Both of these browsers work faster on underpowered or older computers (not just Netbooks) and can be tweaked to run even faster if you’re on a broadband connection (search Google for ‘Firefox speed tweaks’ or ‘Chrome speed tweaks’).
Another possible cause of performance drag when playing streaming video is a wireless connection. If you are trying to stream video via WiFi, try plugging directly into an Ethernet port. If it works better, then you may need to upgrade your WiFi router.
It’s also possible that the power source or power drain is causing performance issues. Check the random access memory that came with your Netbook. If you only have 512 mb, that’s the problem. With 1 gb or more you should be fine on Windows 7. If you’re trying to stream while on battery power, try plugging into an AC source to see if things improve. Also, anything that’s plugged into the USB ports can draw power or cause performance issues on Netbooks, so try removing everything from them to see if things change.
If, after trying all of these possible solutions, you still get choppy video, you are most likely trying to tow a boat with a Smart Car!
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