Flash and Youtube on an older laptop

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  • stevo1210
    Badcaps Legend
    • Oct 2006
    • 4156
    • Australia
    #1

    Flash and Youtube on an older laptop

    My mother currently has a Macbook A1181 (Core 2 Duo) with a 13.3" display to watch movies off the net... as in stream off Youtube and dailymotion etc.

    She complained about the screen being a bit small for her liking... so I dug around the home and took out my old Toshiba P25 laptop. This laptop cost me a fortune back in the day and had little use so it's pretty much brand new. The screen is 17" and the speakers are Harman Kardon which is great for her needs!

    However, I forgot the specs are a bit "down" for today's standards. For starters it runs Windows XP Pro (which I will probably keep on there) and the CPU is a 3GHz Pentium 4 w/HT. It has 1GB of RAM when I last checked as well as a GeForce 5200 32MB graphics card. Older than the C2D macbook she has now... but the screen size is perfect for her!

    So I was thinking... if I sink in say... $50 and upgrade to 2GB RAM and also find a 7200RPM IDE HDD off the net, will this laptop be able to meet her needs to stream off Youtube and the like on Google Chrome/Firefox? Just 480p stuff... no 720p or anything hardcore like that (doubt she can even tell the difference lol).

    Yes I am aware Pentium 4 is considered quite "slow" and "ancient" these days, but believe it or not... my computer at work is a Pentium 4 Dell GX280 2.66GHz with 512MB RAM... and you can understand how frustrating it can get using the internet! :O

    Any opinions would be great.
    Last edited by stevo1210; 10-06-2013, 07:13 AM.
    Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous
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    • ratdude747
      Black Sheep
      • Nov 2008
      • 17136
      • USA
      #2
      Re: Flash and Youtube on an older laptop

      Good luck. Any older CPU, short of a xeon/operon workstation rig (or maybe a high end gaming rig) will struggle with flash/YT. Flash is highly bloated, so you need a lot more brunt to get the job done with flash.
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        • luke10050
          Badcaps Veteran
          • Mar 2013
          • 209
          • Australia
          #3
          Re: Flash and Youtube on an older laptop

          it might run it... try it as is with a fresh install, sounds like the CPU was either a high end mobile or its one of those desktop-cpu-in-laptop laptops. YT was around before Core2 and it seemed to do fine.

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            • ratdude747
              Black Sheep
              • Nov 2008
              • 17136
              • USA
              #4
              Re: Flash and Youtube on an older laptop

              Originally posted by luke10050
              it might run it... try it as is with a fresh install, sounds like the CPU was either a high end mobile or its one of those desktop-cpu-in-laptop laptops. YT was around before Core2 and it seemed to do fine.
              Back then 240P and the like was standard... but if you go fullscreen, you'll want 480 or better yet, 720/1080, and a P4 will struggle unless you like your videos super grainy.
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                • shadow
                  Badcaps Veteran
                  • Feb 2007
                  • 732
                  • Australia
                  #5
                  Re: Flash and Youtube on an older laptop

                  It's a bit of a shame that flash seems to have become more and more bloated. :-/
                  Same sort of story with Acrobat Reader...however there are nice and lean alternatives for that at least.

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                    • luke10050
                      Badcaps Veteran
                      • Mar 2013
                      • 209
                      • Australia
                      #6
                      Re: Flash and Youtube on an older laptop

                      i like 'em at 144p, lets me see all the pixels.

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                        • ratdude747
                          Black Sheep
                          • Nov 2008
                          • 17136
                          • USA
                          #7
                          Re: Flash and Youtube on an older laptop

                          Originally posted by luke10050
                          i like 'em at 144p, lets me see all the pixels.


                          I hate 144p. I can't see anything that low.
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                            • RJARRRPCGP
                              Badcaps Legend
                              • Jul 2004
                              • 6301
                              • USA
                              #8
                              Re: Flash and Youtube on an older laptop

                              240p reminds me of 320x200 or the like when playing Duke Nukem 3D on a 486 SX 25 Mhz!
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                                • lti
                                  Badcaps Legend
                                  • May 2011
                                  • 2545
                                  • United States
                                  #9
                                  Re: Flash and Youtube on an older laptop

                                  Originally posted by ratdude747
                                  I hate 144p. I can't see anything that low.
                                  I think that post was a joke.

                                  That old laptop might handle 480p. 720p might work as well. I don't think it will be able to play anything full screen.

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                                    • ratdude747
                                      Black Sheep
                                      • Nov 2008
                                      • 17136
                                      • USA
                                      #10
                                      Re: Flash and Youtube on an older laptop

                                      Originally posted by lti
                                      I think that post was a joke.

                                      That old laptop might handle 480p. 720p might work as well. I don't think it will be able to play anything full screen.
                                      720P is pointless unless you have a super high res screen or you're fullscreening...
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                                        • Mrx3750
                                          Badcaps Veteran
                                          • Jul 2013
                                          • 311
                                          • USA
                                          #11
                                          Re: Flash and Youtube on an older laptop

                                          With a 3 Ghz CPU, yes it should be possible. Youtube plays fine (at standard resolution) on a 2.8 Ghz Pentium 4 with onboard video.

                                          Hell I remember playing 360p youtube on my Acer netbook with its 1.66 Ghz Atom CPU.
                                          Last edited by Mrx3750; 10-07-2013, 09:05 PM.

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                                            • domas
                                              News Hater
                                              • May 2013
                                              • 323
                                              • Denmark
                                              #12
                                              Re: Flash and Youtube on an older laptop

                                              Originally posted by ratdude747
                                              720P is pointless unless you have a super high res screen or you're fullscreening...
                                              since when 720P is super high res, let me ask?

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                                                • ratdude747
                                                  Black Sheep
                                                  • Nov 2008
                                                  • 17136
                                                  • USA
                                                  #13
                                                  Re: Flash and Youtube on an older laptop

                                                  Originally posted by domas
                                                  since when 720P is super high res, let me ask?
                                                  for a small framed player? yes.
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