Question HP g60 laptop: too slow to stream 1080p?

[80251]

It's an old laptop, but when I try to stream even sub-1080p content it noticeably lags to the point of dropping frames. While in operation it typically has roughly 1 GB of free RAM. It's also using readyboost. It could be it's hitting the pagefile hard because of the limited amount of RAM and all the bloatware installed on it. So is this laptop too slow to stream FHD (i.e. 1080p) content? I'm assuming USB 2.0 has sufficient bandwidth to stream FHD content. Below are the specs:

Processor 2.1GHz Intel Dual-Core T4300 (800Ghz. FSB)
Memory 4GB, 667MHz DDR2 (it might be 800Mhz to match the FSB)
Hard drive 320GB 5,400rpm
Chipset Mobile Intel GM45 Express Chipset
Graphics Intel GMA 4500MHD (integrated)
Operating system Windows Vista Premium
Dimensions 14.9 inches wide by 9.9 inches deep
Height 1.4 to 1.7 inches
Screen size (diagonal) 15.6 inches

 

[JayGau]

Why are you talking about usb 2.0 and streaming? Streaming means reading or sending a constant data flow throughout a network. If you are reading from a usb device it's not streaming. But seriously, according to the specs this laptop is like 15-year-old. I am surprised it's still working. Probably time to retire.

 

[LordVile]

It's an old laptop, but when I try to stream even sub-1080p content it noticeably lags to the point of dropping frames. While in operation it typically has roughly 1 GB of free RAM. It's also using readyboost. It could be it's hitting the pagefile hard because of the limited amount of RAM and all the bloatware installed on it. So is this laptop too slow to stream FHD (i.e. 1080p) content? I'm assuming USB 2.0 has sufficient bandwidth to stream FHD content. Below are the specs:

Processor 2.1GHz Intel Dual-Core T4300 (800Ghz. FSB)
Memory 4GB, 667MHz DDR2 (it might be 800Mhz to match the FSB)
Hard drive 320GB 5,400rpm
Chipset Mobile Intel GM45 Express Chipset
Graphics Intel GMA 4500MHD (integrated)
Operating system Windows Vista Premium
Dimensions 14.9 inches wide by 9.9 inches deep
Height 1.4 to 1.7 inches
Screen size (diagonal) 15.6 inches

I would not be connecting a vista machine to the internet.

Probably the RAM but the system is ancient and the CPU is underpowered for vista

 

[80251]

Why are you talking about usb 2.0 and streaming? Streaming means reading or sending a constant data flow throughout a network. If you are reading from a usb device it's not streaming. But seriously, according to the specs this laptop is like 15-year-old. I am surprised it's still working. Probably time to retire.

I was attempting to stream an mp4 movie for my mom off this laptop via a USB stick to her rear projection TV.
The only other laptop I have available is even older and slower than this one (and doesn't even have HDMI output).

 

[logainofhades]

Memory 4GB, 667MHz DDR2 (it might be 800Mhz to match the FSB)
Operating system Windows Vista Premium

That's probably the bulk of your problem right there.

 

[80251]

I wasn't planning on ever connecting this laptop to the internet, but I was hoping it would at least be good enough to play movies (mp4s, avis) for my mom off of a USB stick. I was surprised and disappointed to find out 4 GB is the maximum amount of system RAM that can be installed on this laptop.

 

[Eximo]

On the positive side. Plenty of sub $100 laptops out there that can replace it.

But for media playback, consider a raspberry pi solution.

Or one of the off the shelf android boxes (beware they tend to be full of malware, so might need a fresh install)

 

[TerryLaze]

I wasn't planning on ever connecting this laptop to the internet, but I was hoping it would at least be good enough to play movies (mp4s, avis) for my mom off of a USB stick. I was surprised and disappointed to find out 4 GB is the maximum amount of system RAM that can be installed on this laptop.

Maybe you should explain the whole setup?!
So you read movies directly from the usb stick and then what?! How does the projector get involved?
Take it one step at a time, do movies play decently from the usb without sending them to the projector?
Also 1080p or hdmi doesn't tell us anything since you can have a 600mb 1.5h movie or a 8Gb 1.5H movie and they will have extremely different needs in bandwidth.

Also just because a usb stick is usb 2.0 compatible doesn't mean it has usb 2.0 speeds.

 

[JayGau]

I was attempting to stream an mp4 movie for my mom off this laptop via a USB stick to her rear projection TV.
The only other laptop I have available is even older and slower than this one (and doesn't even have HDMI output).

Did you try to just copy the mp4 to the laptop hard drive and play the movie from it? If it works then the problem is with your UBS port transfer speed that is not fast enough.

 

[80251]

Thanks JayGau and TerryLaze, I'll try copying the mp4s and avis directly to the HDD and see if that makes any difference in the stuttering playback.