Dell Mini 9 Problem - Stuttering on YouTube/IE

I bought the Mini 9 with only 512MB of RAM because Dell wanted $25 for 1GB, which is the price of 2GB. I'm just waiting for prices to drop/rebates before ordering 2GB.

I am running the bloatware infested stock software and I noticed stuttering when playing YouTube videos via IE. IE takes up 50%-70% of CPU time for some odd reason. I fired up my Dimension and my Studio 15 only to find at MOST 20% CPU time using either IE or FireFox.

Does anyone else have the same problem? What did you do to fix it? I plan to do a clean install of XP SP-3 once I get a IDE/USB adapter to run an optical drive (unless someone has a better idea).

 

A clean install of XP is the best option, although simply going through the Add/Remove Programs menu to get rid of bloatware is also an option too.

Also, the CPU time of a Core 2 Duo probably isn't the same as the CPU time of an Atom, as they yield different performance.

 

I tested it on a P4 3.0 (single core) and it was the same as the Studio 15 w/ a C2D (about 15%-20% CPU usage). I did a Google search and a few reviews indicated stuttering with Flash video. Is this really a problem with bloatware or is there a problem with the Atom processor?

BTW I noticed that XP is using the swapfile because 512MB wasn't enough memory for the OS!

 

No stuttering with Ubuntu, even before I upgraded the RAM to a gig.

 

Maybe try upgrading it to at least a gig?

 

I plan to upgrade to 2GB but I'm just waiting for the prices to drop a little. Is there a way to re-install XP w/o using an optical drive? Or will I have to buy a USB/IDE adapter for my 5.25" optical drive?

BTW I removed more bloatware and installed FireFox 3. Flash video like youtube always saps up CPU usage to 40%-50%+ for some odd reason.

 

Encoding / decoding usually take a toll on playback. If you are only noticing this on yourtube (and not for example, when watching a movie with VLC) then I would think it is a sign that the little atom really isn't up to the task. More RAM at least 1 gig for XP, is a good fix for some slowdown though. I would try using different browsers and eliminating background processes also however.

 

I cleaned up a lot of junk and XP only uses up 300MB of memory. The CPU usage sometimes jumps to 75% and all of it is coming from IEXPLORE or FireFox when playing a flash video via YouTube.

WMP plays WMV flawlessly though!

 

BTT

Anyone else encounter this issue?

 

Now that I've been using mine for awhile, I will say, it does have the occasional stutter. For me, it's not very often, though. So, it's pretty unobtrusive.

 

BTT

I agree it's not that bad, but I'm surprised a computer with as much power as a Mini 9 stutters when playing back YouTube vids.

 

I don't have this issue...YouTube has been working fine. But mine is newer, so chances are I could very well run this prob.




Cin

 

I would recommend that you remove Adobe's Flash plugin from Firefox and IE and try reinstalling it with the latest package from their website. Flash applications are CPU-intensive, but not to the extent that you described.