MBA slows down..

[SmOcKxY]

Hey guys..my dad passed me his Rev A MBA cos he was complaining that it was getting too slow..well i noe the MBA isn't a fast machine being so small..so i did a fresh install of snow leopard on it..everything was ok for awhile but recently i noticed that after 15mins or so of usage..it slows down..especially when i'm streaming video..the stream starts to get choppy and sometimes stops..even the cursor movement is jerky and delayed..i'm just wondering if it's an inherently problem or there's something wrong with my ram? If so there's nothing much I can do bout it right since everything is integrated into the logic board? 2GB of ram should be enuff since i have 2GB in my MBP also but i guess sharing it with the graphics card is killing it..so is there anything I can do about it? other than selling it and getting a new one?

 

[joelypolly]

Open Activity Monitor and check there isn't a process labeled kernel_task taking up 100% CPU. If there is then what you are experiencing is overheating.

I would go and get one of those laptop coolers and see if it makes a difference.

 

[darngooddesign]

FYI. The Rev A Airs have a problem handling Flash videos like Hulu which has nothing to do with the speed of the computer, the amount of RAM or a shared video card. Its just the nature of the beast.

 

[SmOcKxY]

Open Activity Monitor and check there isn't a process labeled kernel_task taking up 100% CPU. If there is then what you are experiencing is overheating.

I would go and get one of those laptop coolers and see if it makes a difference.

You know what? U are spot on! kernel_task is running at 130% when i experience slow downs..wat the crap!

I'm using something to lift the MBA off the bottom to try to dissipate the heat away from the bottom of the MBA but i dun think it helps much..it'll be stupid to bring around a fan cooler when the whole point of the MBA is being very lite and mobile..man..what a piece of ****!

So i guess there's nothing much I can do about it then!

 

[SmOcKxY]

FYI. The Rev A Airs have a problem handling Flash videos like Hulu which has nothing to do with the speed of the computer, the amount of RAM or a shared video card. Its just the nature of the beast.

I dunno if it's got anything to do with Flash..even when i dun stream video i suffer from the same problem albeit it takes a little longer..

I was told it's prolly the overheating issue..when the MBA gets too hot one of the core shuts down thus slowing everything down dramatically!

 

[joelypolly]

You can always install CoolBook which is a util to lower the voltage. It has been reported to work for some people but it is 10 bucks and not guaranteed.

If you lower the voltage the laptop should run cooler.