[Herts] Freeview USB stick with a Netbook ?

[Mike - XP Computers]

I know some of the newer netbooks have a better accelerated graphics onboard
these days than the earlier models, which can help with video decoding, but
it depends on what standards and resolution the freeview stick uses. I'd
recommend firing off a questions to the manufacturer of your USB freeview
device, or even hunting out a specialist forum for that make of freeview
device, where you might have plenty of real-world experience of the specific
combination you are looking at.

Do you have a friend with one you could try it on? That is the safest way to
be sure! Or failing that buy the netbook from a shop with good returns
policy.

Generically the Samsung Netbooks themselves are excellent, but not every
model is, so choose with care (web based reviews should help you find the
winners!).

I have one of the earliest Samsung NC10 running XP (and Linux Mint 8), and
it is a great little unit. It isn't perfect on say Skype or iPlayer (some
glitches and blurring), but perfectly watchable. I'd hope that newer units
would be smoother for such purposes.

Good luck

Mike

> -----Original Message-----
> From: herts-bounces at mailman.lug.org.uk [mailto:herts-
> bounces at mailman.lug.org.uk] On Behalf Of Andrew Benham
> Sent: 14 September 2010 14:44
> To: herts at mailman.lug.org.uk
> Subject: [Herts] Freeview USB stick with a Netbook ?
> 
> Sorry if this is a bit off-topic...
> 
> I'm contemplating buying a netbook (perhaps a Samsung) to
> avoid lugging a heavier laptop around.  One of my intended
> uses would be to plug my Freeview USB stick tuner into the
> netbook.  But the thought has crossed my mind - is a netbook
> going to have the horse-power to decode the data stream and
> display video (and audio) ?
> 
> The USB stick tuner says it needs a 1.2GHz CPU or better -
> most of the Atom-based Netbooks are spec'd faster than that,
> but is CPU speed the whole story here ?
> 
> --
> Andrew Benham     Southgate, London N14, United Kingdom
> 
> The gates in my computer are AND OR and NOT, not "Bill"
> 
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