video playback jerky when on battery power

[David Peterson]

Hello,

I have a problem playing video on a new Dell Inspiron 5150 notebook.
It plays fine when plugged into the wall, and CPU usage is typically
20-50% (due to the player). However, when I unplug the notebook the
video playback gets very jerky. CPU usage jumps up to near 100%
because of the process called "System". What is "System" doing?

The strange thing is, on a recent trip after watching jerky video on
the battery power for about an hour, I went into System Properties and
turned off the screen saver (which kept coming on). At that point the
video playback became smooth, and CPU usage dropped from around 90% to
around 45%. I played a an avi file off the CD-drive and that played
fine as well (CPU near 25%). This continued after I turned the screen
saver back on, and after I rebooted also. But the next day (today) it
was back to playing jerky video on battery power (and CPU near 100%
due to the process "System").

What the heck is going on? Any ideas/guesses appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have a problem playing video on a new Dell Inspiron 5150 notebook.
It plays fine when plugged into the wall, and CPU usage is typically
20-50% (due to the player). However, when I unplug the notebook the
video playback gets very jerky. CPU usage jumps up to near 100%
because of the process called "System". What is "System" doing?

The strange thing is, on a recent trip after watching jerky video on
the battery power for about an hour, I went into System Properties and
turned off the screen saver (which kept coming on). At that point the
video playback became smooth, and CPU usage dropped from around 90% to
around 45%. I played a an avi file off the CD-drive and that played
fine as well (CPU near 25%). This continued after I turned the screen
saver back on, and after I rebooted also. But the next day (today) it
was back to playing jerky video on battery power (and CPU near 100%
due to the process "System").

What the heck is going on? Any ideas/guesses appreciated. Thanks!

It's probably checking idle time more when you are on battery power
(hibernation, etc..)

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have a problem playing video on a new Dell Inspiron 5150 notebook.
It plays fine when plugged into the wall, and CPU usage is typically
20-50% (due to the player). However, when I unplug the notebook the
video playback gets very jerky. CPU usage jumps up to near 100%
because of the process called "System". What is "System" doing?

The strange thing is, on a recent trip after watching jerky video on
the battery power for about an hour, I went into System Properties and
turned off the screen saver (which kept coming on). At that point the
video playback became smooth, and CPU usage dropped from around 90% to
around 45%. I played a an avi file off the CD-drive and that played
fine as well (CPU near 25%). This continued after I turned the screen
saver back on, and after I rebooted also. But the next day (today) it
was back to playing jerky video on battery power (and CPU near 100%
due to the process "System").

What the heck is going on? Any ideas/guesses appreciated. Thanks!

Oh - and yes - just because you are playing a movie does not mean the
computer is not idle - if you are not giving it input, it is idle..