PC Doctor July 26, 2011

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Dear PC Doctor,

My question is more of an Internet question I think. There has been a recent announcement concerning my 2 favorite soap operas. After they're canceled on ABC, they will be appearing on the internet. I had never watched a TV show on my PC before, so I thought I'd give it a try. The problem is that the voices don't match up with the movement of their mouths. I find that annoying. I clicked onto the help button and read the criteria. I think that I meet those requirements. Is there anything that I can do and my second part of the question is- if I have an internet enabled TV, will the problem be the same? What's the scoop on Internet enabled TV's? I guess I had a three-parter. Thanks for any info.

            Audrey

Dear Audrey,

That is really odd and I have to admit that I'm not sure what the solution is. There's a few things you could try and hopefully something will solve your problem! Your internet bandwidth might be struggling to play the TV show, but as far as I know, if you let it buffer (pause the video for it to load) it should load fine. From what I've read, when the video and audio don't match up, it's usually something to do with the file not being encoded right. Definitely not your fault.

It's a good idea to make sure that nothing is using up your internet bandwidth when you're trying to watch internet TV. Close or let all downloads and uploads finish before attempting to watch something. If other people in your household are also online, they'll be using up available bandwidth too! If you have more than one computer in your house, try watching an episode on another computer especially if one computer is a desktop and the other is a laptop. Try a different web browser! I'm a fan of Firefox and Google Chrome. Other good options include Safari and Opera.

I've heard good things about internet-enabled TV's. I haven't heard of anybody having problems with playback, so it might solve your problem. I can't see it solving your problem if it's something related to bandwidth issues, since that's not a hardware problem. I actually haven't had any experience with internet-enabled TV's or DVD players. I know most connect with the streaming service called Netflix, that which requires a paid subscription. Many of the new Blu-ray DVD players are internet-enabled and aren't very expensive.

Good luck!

            PC Doctor

Here's a tip about a very handy website that I recently used after upgrading my friend's desktop to Windows 7. With the fresh install, I would have had to re install all their favorite applications manually. www.ninite.com allows you to download and install a set of applications all at once!

Save time by going through the list, selecting the apps you want to install, then click “Get Installer”. From there, it's all automatic! Depending on how many applications you select, it might take a bit to download. However, since they'll install without any prompts, you can leave your computer to do the work while you sleep or do something else!

Nice feature is that it will install the correct version of the software for your computer. No need to worry about whether or not your computer is running 32 or 64-bit! Also, unlike other download sites, you won't get any unwanted toolbars and junk— only the stuff you want is what you'll get!

PC Doctor

Until next time... happy computing!