Running SL viewer or Firestorm? I use Firestorm myself, so I'll comment based on that......
First of all, I don't really recommend ANY laptop for SL. I've been scraping by with one for a year and a half (playing SL), but only because my desktop died 😞 My laptop is much worse than yours LOL, and i hate it >.<
1. Obviously, turn down the graphics. I WANT Ultra, but can't have it......set my graphics to 2 clicks below maxed.
2. Set your Network bandwidth in your Preferences to the recommended level. Don't remember the value off the top of my head, but it's about the middle of the slider.
3. DO NOT turn on Advanced Lighting & Shadows.......I have a suspicion that will fix your problem right there. The horsepower to do that kind of rendering is pretty much reserved for desktops.
4. Turn down your Draw Distance in crowded areas. I run 128m to about 200m normally, and turn it down to 64m or 48m at events.
5. Increase your cache size. Not sure what it does, I assume it pre-loads the places you frequently visit.
That's about it off the top of my head. SL isn't really too demanding, but more so than some other games. It's almost like running a real-time movie made using DAZ 3D or Poser....I'm surprised it runs even as well as it does, actually. For a budget SL PC, I'd recommend a GTX 750 Ti or above. The 750 Ti should do quite nicely though.
