Slow computer tips

Any tips on how to squeeze better performance out of Resolve on a slow computer? Now that hardware requirements have been relaxed with v14, I was going to teach my father how to use Resolve to do some very simple editing on his laptop. Source footage is 1080p30 MP4 from a cheap consumer camcorder, but I can't get real-time playback. The machine is a Lenovo Yoga with Intel 5Y70 CPU, integrated Intel 5300 graphics, and 8GB memory.

Am I expecting too much out of this hardware? I'm not going to do any color at all, just simple trimming and exporting. I have no trouble playing in Windows Media Player, but can't get real-time playback in Resolve.

I just read that H.264 hardware decoding is a studio feature only... Womp womp. Maybe I'll see if Vegas or Pinnacle can do the job.

Any tips on how to squeeze better performance out of Resolve on a slow computer?

Don't use h.264. Ideally use DNxHR HQ or Grass Valley or if needed be h.263 aka mpeg4. Filesize goes up, but it's always a trade off between complexity vs file size.

Am I expecting too much out of this hardware?

In a word: Yes.

Page 115 and onwards in the maual will also help.

I find that changing the timeline resolution to 960 X 540 can greatly improve performance. But remember to change it back for final render.

You could also choose to generate optimized media, I'd recommend DNxHR SQ 1/4 rez. Also you could turn on the render cache.