Thanks for your input.
On a side note. I have an HP laptop running Vista that won’t boot up.
HP Pavilion dv7-1245dx
Amd Turion-x2 64
It crashed sometime ago and I gave up on it for awhile.
Power up, I hear the drive spin for about 2-3 seconds, and nothing. I tried over and over again but always the same.
Until one day I just powered it up and let it sit. After a few hours, out of nowhere, it booted up. I spent an entire day uninstalling crap and grabbing every update I could. Hours and hours of updates and restarts, but I was able to use the machine, for awhile.
It seemed to work fine unless I was watching a youtube video for more than 30 minutes or so.
Crash. No blue screen, it just shut off. All my power settings are at “NEVER”, No screen saver,sleep mode and no anti-virus programs running.
As this happened repeatedly I was still able to restart the machine and watch youtube videos again until it just shut down again. This time, it won’t boot up. I’ve removed and reinstalled the battery,(there are apparently issues with it), I have powered it up and let it sit for 8 hours plus, as this is how it restarted back when I tried before.
Laptops can run hot, there is an overheating issue with Pavilions.
Overheating bad for electronics.
Also, how many years has it been accumulating dust inside ? Dirty computers not worky so good.
Ah, I just re-read your post. Watching a video for 30 minutes will be pushing your CPU hard and heating it up.
Again, I’d always keep the cpu usage graph open. What’s it called in Vista, program manager, task manager ?
To lighten the load on cpu when viewing videos, the video card (graphics accelerator) needs to actually be used when the video is playing.
This requires compatibility/drivers, i.e., your OS, drivers, screen, accelerator card, etc., have to all be there and be set up as required.
I have a suspicion that many people have PCs that have a video accelerator but it’s not being used.
I don’t know how to verify whether it’s being used in M$ operating systems, but I imagine if you search for answers enough you’ll get them.
Obviously it would as a matter of standard practice be best to ascertain the situation prior to purchasing a machine, i.e., verify what graphics accelerator and monitor it comes with and what they need for drivers, etc., therefore making sure that drivers are available and all the pieces support the GE.
Another hint, if you’re stuck using CPU...
To minimize cpu usage, select the smallest video viewing size (definitely not full screen)...
and view the video at the lowest possible resolution.
You should be able to get your cpu down to 20% or less usage.
For a laptop, I’d be shooting to keep it at 10% cpu usage.
Also, some CPUs support Frequency scaling... that is, they can change the clock speed they are running at while the OS is running. So your cpu may be able to run at, for example, anything from 1.60GHz to 2.93GHz.
And, you usually set the “governor” to On Demand.
So if there’s not a lot going on, the cpu will slow down to 1.60GHz, and only if it’s real busy does it speed up to what it has to.
Slower is generally cooler.
For a laptop that runs cool, one does not want to be on the “bleeding edge” of technology.
There are also all kinds of laptop cooling devices for sale on the web.
Plastic pads filled with some kind of heat transfer goo, aluminum frames with holes in them that have fans inside that you sit your laptop on top of. The power comes from your laptops usb port.
I’ve tried these... believe me, it’s best to not push the CPU fast and not have a hotrod CPU.
Due to the size constraints, laptops are a lot of electronics crammed in close without an optimal cooling situation.
I also would not buy a cpu that was not dual core, since they are so much more responsive when one runs “ill-behaved” software that hogs cpu. But I’d stay with the more modest performance levels.
IMHO.
HP Pavilion dv7-1245dx Amd Turion-x2 64
This may be related to the lead-free specs for PCB solder imposed by the EU. I don't think they've fully worked out the kinks yet. Lead-free solder is less flexible and has a way of cracking under the stresses of expansion and compression cycles that the typical system board goes through. The system starts and stops are the result of intermittent circuit board connections. When it starts, the solder connections are touching; when it stops, they're not. You can get the problem chip reflowed (resoldered) but the problem will recur unless you take special care to keep the laptop cool, perhaps with one of those coolers that fit under the keyboard.