Date & Time: 10/13/2011, 20:15 EST (8:15 PM EST)
Frequency: The game hangs for about 1/2 second every 2-3 seconds.
Platform: PC
PC Manufacturer & Model Number: HP Pavilion dv7
OS: Windows 7 64-bit
Graphics Card: Radeon HD 6490M
ISP: Comcast
Type of Internet Connection: Cable
The game seems to freeze for just a split second about once every 2 seconds, making it really difficult to play, and annoying to look at. I had the same problem with the 2 previous laptops that I installed FFXI on, one of which used intel mobile graphics 4200, and I can't remember the other one. I've tried stripping the computer down, by removing every program I could conceive of while still maintaining functionality, and can't seem to isolate the problem. I also tried using Process explorer to disable running services 1 by one and had no luck there either. This is really frustrating because I would really like to be able to play when I am away from home, or just in another room, but the problem seems to happen on every laptop I have gotten. I am inclined to believe that it has something to do with shared video memory handling in windows 7, but that is just a guess.
I also tried a suggestion from another thread where someone said to shut down HID devices (you can't actually shut all of them down, because the keyboard mouse and controller are HID devices) but that didn't work either. Any help would be greatly appreciated.