September 1st Update.

Along with being the family computer this PC was purchased with specific purpose in mind. It was to be the place to compile, edit, and produce all of the media that goes through our household, along with watching DVDs etc. This never used to be a problem for it, until it started to fail in January 2010. So after it was returned from FS trip #7, I basically gave it a test drive using the same (compatible/hassle free) software that we have successfully used since the computer was purchased up until the point of its breakdown(Jan. 2010).

    While capturing video via DV(firewire) the first few minutes were captured flawlessly, then for no apparent reason the computer began to function suboptimal. Then every video clip I attempted to capture had many frames dropped = unusable video file. I stop capturing footage and I then start making backups of the newly captured video on an external HD when similar lagging occurred. This made me wonder if the lagging would effect the data, but after it completed I checked the external HD files on a different PC and the files were free of errors. Note: 24 hrs later I started the Acer up to capture the footage that was missed, and it was working perfectly again (no frames were dropped),when I had not changed anything.

    The way I see it is the computer works, but at times so poorly that tasks which require the PC to function in smooth/ lag free way cannot be completed. Ex. Capturing footage when dropping frames, watching videos/DVDs with choppy play back.

    However even when its lagging/ functioning poorly, its able to complete tasks which do not require a smooth completion. Ex. Transferring files to a external HD, even when it briefly freezes up it gets the task done error free.

How should this scenario be interpreted? Is it in need of repair?

    I think this is possibly overlooked when in for repairs because, it still completes tasks like file transfers free of error, but during video playback it can make things unwatchable. I don’t want or expect the technicians to sit and wait for things like this when they have software to test it, because this would be a huge waste of their time. But since they are testing my PCs hardware by using software on the PC being tested, I imagine that it’s possible for the periods of freezing to go with out the software’s notice.

Hypothetically if the freezing that took place during the external HD transfer happened while FS software was checking for problems, I would expect the software to show that the task completed 100% successfully. However any human observing would notice that it was frozen and not functioning correctly multiple times during that task, likely concluding that there are problems.

    This could easily be completely wrong its just my guess to why the FS technicians are not able to diagnose fix and repair this.

Computer video #2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeuHcb1fGrA

Thank-you