latency - throughput delays

[peace brainerd]

Is there a simple fix for this?

Watching youtube, google video, etc, the audio/video gets so progressively out of sync that it's almost unwatchable if the video is in excess of five minutes.

I'm using winME on a four year old toshiba laptop with with a celeron 650 "if i only had a brain". But I can't believe the (relatively) slow processor is at fault. I have a stable broadband connection. Is it a matter of updating certain codecs? Will it help to download and install an updated media player? Can I simply adjust some settings somewhere in the control panel?

Thanks for any advice.

[FastEddy]

CPU not at fault. Strip down your ME or install Win 2000 = better speed for that MS Media Player, etc. (As Vista has been announced, Windows 2000 is now effectively in the public domain, so borrow a copy from a friend. Win2K is less buggy, faster, more useful than Vista or XP IMOP.)

Also you may be paying for it, but your internet service provider lies about the download speed you are getting. Call 'em and complain = sometimes they can improve your download speed just by flippin' bits on their distribution servers. You can also significantly improve your networking performance with tools from http://majorgeeks.com .

Concerning latency and jitter to audio hardware I/O ADC and DAC ... direct connect your USB DAC without hub or long cable = helps somewhat.

[peace brainerd]

Thanks for that Fasteddy

I tried a couple of other things. Eventually I will switch over to 2000 when I get a copy, but for now I went a route recommended on another forum. I installed Firefox2.0 and then installed an add on called Fasterfox. After installation, i got into the Fasterfox options and chose "turbo charged".

This seemed to almost fully correct the throughput delays, and also made a very noticeable difference in the download speed of the video stream. Before, the video would load just barely ahead of the replay, and would often have to stop and wait. Now the loading progress bar just zips along ahead of the replay icon.

This is absolutely not a rigorous test of firefox w/fasterfox, and may in fact just be anomalous examples in the last dozen or so videos that I've watched. But I'm happy with this set up for the time being.

[FastEddy]

Good idea! = The Mozilla tricks usually are cross compatible to microsoft, WinAmp, iTunes, et al ...

Tip: Keep up with the Microsoft security updates for Win ME and Win 2K ... but be prepared to reinstall the TBird & FireFox tricks if you notice any preformance degradations ...