Does Youtube work on MBA?

[Hi-i'm-a-mac]

I know, silly question. However, I've searched this forum and read about people having core shut down problems and how when playing any type of streaming video or media, the computer slows down. If they do slow down and over-heat... is it because of an issue that can be fixed? Or is the MBA simply not a machine to use for streaming media?

Also, anyone use Windows on their MBA? and if so, does media player work ok? thanks.

 

[magid]

Youtube works, just make sure the comp doesnt overheat or it will slow it down significantly.

 

[Hi-i'm-a-mac]

That's kinda my question. Does using Youtube overheat the computer? And by "don't let it overheat", do you mean watch a video, let it cool down, then watch another? That type of deal?

 

[wordmunger]

I've had no problems using YouTube on my MBA. However, it does heat up and the fans will eventually engage, thus disrupting the MBA silent experience. I imagine if you watched videos for 30+ minutes at a stretch you might have core shutdown /slowdown issues, but for just watching a video here and there, it works fine.

 

[hildegueden]

Just the MBA gets warmer.. but you can perfectly watch youtube videos on the MBA.

 

[mhnajjar]

YouTube and other similar websites simply kill the Air . It is amazing how a $200 PC or even the iPhone can handle YouTube without any problems

 

[pilotError]

YouTube works fine for me.

 

[queshy]

youtube works fine on my MacBook Air...

 

[LinMac]

My Macbook Air works fine with Youtube and sites such as Hulu.

I tried the same on a friend's Air (his is the 1.8GHz SSD version) and it had significant problems playing the videos.

He uses Flash 9 while I use the Flash 10 Beta 2 from http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashplayer10/

If you have problems and don't mind the beta quality software then it might be worth a try. The Flash 10 Beta seems to be far faster than the older versions.

 

[hildegueden]

After 10 min, probably fan is at 6200 rpm, but you can watch youtube videos indefinitely with no overheating.

If the streaming media issues is the only think that stop you from buying a MBA... you will forget that after you had worked with her for many other tasks.

 

[LinMac]

After 10 min, probably fan is at 6200 rpm, but you can watch youtube videos indefinitely with no overheating.

If the streaming media issues is the only think that stop you from buying a MBA... you will forget that after you had worked with her for many other tasks.

Which version of flash are you using?

 

[hildegueden]

Which version of flash are you using?

It says 9.0.124.0. I haven't played youtube videos for more than 40 min (I don't have such free time), so probably saying "indefinitely" is exaggerated. Do the overheating problems appear after that time?

 

[LinMac]

It says 9.0.124.0. I haven't played youtube videos for more than 40 min (I don't have such free time), so probably saying "indefinitely" is exaggerated. Do the overheating problems appear after that time?

Flash 9 is fairly intensive even on lower quality videos. Flash has never been that great on OS X, but Flash 10 (which is reportedly 2 - 3x as fast) allows me to view Youtube videos without the fan becoming audible with the sound muted.

Hulu and other websites with much higher quality content will push the machine a lot harder until the CPU is at 80%. That causes the fan to become progressively louder until it is at a level it can be heard when the sound is muted.