DVD playback problems

[dog8food]

While trying to watch movies on my Dell laptop, (2.4ghz celeron, 512Ram, 40GB hd, Dell powerDVD software) after about 12 minutes, the audio and video begin to jerk heavily until the movie eventually freezes. I played this same movie in my playstation 2 without any problems. I doubt that it has to do with computer performance because I have very few background programs running. Is there an easy solution for this?

[doctorgonzo]

Is the laptop getting hot while you are doing this?

[Kov-Ice]

I have that same laptop. Though it doesn't freeze, I experience hiccups every few minutes or so throughout any movie I play. Are the Celery processors that poor of performers?

[dog8food]

I don't believe it warms up more than usual, but the DVD drive makes a repetitive nose as if it's searching for something.

[reboot]

Are the Celery processors that poor of performers?

Yes.
What makes you think it's got nothing to do with system performance? You may think you have very little running in the background, but depending on the OS, you may have far more than is visible.
Rendering the dvd requires using RAM. When RAM get's full, it uses the swap file, constantly writing and reading from the hard drive. End result, jerky video, and even possible BSOD's.
On a desktop, one would have a video card with a large amount of ram, this helps. One would also probably have more RAM, and a dvd player with a larger buffer.
Laptops, because of their compact size, don't always have extra video ram, nor do they have buffers in the drive, instead using system ram for the task.
If this is a burned dvd, then it's possible the burner is at fault, for not correctly burning the tracks. As a dvd plays, it's drive must either slow down, or speed up, seeking the inside or outside areas of the disk. Poor media can really affect the performance, and even store bought dvd's can have faults.

[dog8food]

Originally posted by reboot Yes. What makes you think it's got nothing to do with system performance?

Well, I haven't installed anything on my dell since I've gotten it, infact i've removed some useless software. I doubt that dell would send out computers with DVD drives that aren't capable of functioning out of the box.

[doctorgonzo]

Originally posted by dog8food I doubt that dell would send out computers with DVD drives that aren't capable of functioning out of the box.

It functions, it just doesn't function well. I'm not surprised that a Celeron can't handle it (another important factor, which you haven't mentioned, is the video adapter).

[Kov-Ice]

Check your processes, too, under Task Manager. You'll be surprised at everything that loads at startup. Dell installs all kinds of crap on their comps.

[reboot]

A basic XP install has ~21 processes running. Cut that down to 16 or less using the guides at www.blackviper.com
Dell's software package will probably result in ~30 processes, even after you've uninstalled stuff.
Add to the problem a Celery, and a severly limited video adapter, it's a known problem. Selling you a laptop with a dvd player is a selling point. Nobody promised that it would actually work as advertised
I could probably surprise you with the playback of dvd on my PIII 600, which outperforms the Celeron 1.8ghz. All because it's got a 128 meg Geforce video card, and 768 meg of RAM onboard.

[dog8food]

I found the problem; it turns out there were some energy saving options that I had to disable because my computer kept trying to turn off hard disks and hibernate.

It works fine now... and I was starting to believe it might have been a performance problem.

[reboot]

How nice. Now you can really run the battery dead while watching a dvd.
Energy saving options ARE a performance problem