Flash Videos play slow/choppy on G4

[G4Pup]

I've got an old G4 Quicksilver 2002, 800mhz, 1.5gb ram (max), 64 mb dual monitor vid card, dsl modem, Flash 10.04?..., that plays Flash vids slow or choppy. Should I get the Newer Technology MaxPower 1.8 GHz processor upgrade card, or the new Intel Mac Mini 2.26 duo? Money is very, very tight so it's a choice between the Mac Mini + software + scsi to USB adapter for scanner = $1200+, or the 1.8 GHz upgrade card for $350 + shipping. Hulu.com is my objective, vids from Comedy Central, Family Guy, Sex & The City (No, just ********ting with that last one!) Anyone else have this situation, and is a major cheapskate like me?

PS. I've tried the new YouTube HTML 5 Beta in Safari 4 that's supposed to be less processor intensive, but it's no better.

 

[disconap]

The new mini. The upgrade will help but newer flash videos will ALWAYS play choppy on Mac ppcs. And as they get newer it will get worse. Software support for the PPC is dying out, and Flash is one of those technologies that is generally kept up to date...

Seriously. With only Safari running on a dual 2.0gHz G5 with 6gbRAM and an SSD RAID0, Hulu is beginning to be choppy on my machine. Just sign of the times, I'm afraid.

But $1200? Really? What software would you need to buy immediately? I mean, you'd still have your QS for use for everything it does well, no need to swap EVERYTHING over.

 

[GeekAtBirth]

Choppy Flash is expected on a G4 machine, any PPC actually. Going with the Mini is the best route for enjoying Flash content. For the HTML 5, it may be choppy because it's still in Beta. Also, why $1200?! Are you buying Photoshop with that!

 

[Archon Gold]

If you're running on PPC there will always be a noticeable lag with flash unless you are on a fully decked out G4 or on a G5.

Your graphics card also contributes a lot to the problem. 64Mbs of vram will not cut it and it then leaves all the rendering of the video to the already slow processor.