Hi,
Your frame drop is because something is eating up your CPU/memory/video card. It could be a mod. Or it could be a video card problem in laptops due to shared memory.
First thing I would due is run SHIII v1.4b and see if your frame rate is good. If you have this problem with the vanilla game, you don't have enough power.
To zoom in, use the tab key; to zoom out, use SetKeys to activate the zoom out command (I use CTRL+tab)
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/down...o=file&id=1016
Since you have a laptop, SetKeys will allow you to program a lot of keys to avoid using the function keys