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New 11" owner has a question

G

Gunner86

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 5, 2011
55
0
Hello, i bought an 11.6" macbook air yesterday and am loving it, the only thing i don't like is it doesn't seem to like playing hd video's on youtube, is flash player for mac os x optimised to use the gpu when watching hd video's? Mu cpu usage goes up the roof when watching hd flash content. Sorry if this has been asked before but i tried searching and came up with nothing...

Thanks

Kris
 
simsaladimbamba

simsaladimbamba

Guest
Nov 28, 2010
22,670
31
located
You could try playing the YT content back via HTML5 (http://www.youtube.com/html5) or use ClickToFlash (plugin or extension) to play back the H.264 encoded videos, which is less CPU intensive than Flash.

Adobe Flash Player is CPU intensive, thus more power is needed to feed the CPU, which results in higher temperatures and often higher fan speed(s) on mobile computers. As more power is used due to Flash, the battery life of mobile computers is shortened by a good bit.
To check, if Adobe Flash Player is responsible for less battery time, go to Applications / Utilities / Activity Monitor and select to show ALL PROCESSES and sort by CPU.

There are a variety of Flash blockers for all the four major browsers available.
A Flash blocker does what it says, it blocks Flash content, but via a click on the marked Flash object, the Flash object can be activated and used.

  • Safari: ClickToFlash, for which there is an extension and a plug-in; CTF allows you to download YouTube and other kinds of MPEG-4 encoded video too.
  • Opera: has a built-in Flash blocker
  • Firefox: Flashblock is an add-on to block Flash
  • Chrome: FlashBlock is an extension to block Flash

Also make sure to have the latest Adobe Flash Player version running, you can get it here.
Click to expand...
 
E

Extract0r

macrumors newbie
May 23, 2011
23
0
MacBook Air hardware updates are expected to be released any day now.
If you just bought yours, hold onto your receipt and return it within the 14 day return window. The updated hardware will feature i5 Sandy Bridge CPU compared to archaic Core 2 Duo. HD videos and flash will fly on the updated machines.
 
PorterRocks

PorterRocks

macrumors 6502
Jan 31, 2010
342
1
Idaho
Extract0r said:
MacBook Air hardware updates are expected to be released any day now.
*snip* The updated hardware will feature i5 Sandy Bridge CPU compared to archaic Core 2 Duo. HD videos and flash will fly on the updated machines.*snip*
Click to expand...

It should be stated that the refresh is only RUMORED to get an i5. No one knows for sure. For all we know, it could just receive a bumped Core 2 Duo. It will undoubtedly receive a thunderbolt port, however.
 
The Samurai

The Samurai

macrumors 68020
Dec 29, 2007
2,055
750
Glasgow
the only question the new 11" owner should have is... why on earth he bought the current gen when a new one is round the corner (well, literally) :D :D :D :D
 
G

Gunner86

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 5, 2011
55
0
Thanks guys i am already aware that the new one is coming out soon but i purchased it anyways since i don't really need a ton of horsepower since this is only my portable machine, i made the salesman aware that if the new one comes out withing the 14 day period he would see me coming back.
 
jahala

jahala

macrumors regular
Feb 7, 2008
207
16
simsaladimbamba said:
You could try playing the YT content back via HTML5 (http://www.youtube.com/html5) or use ClickToFlash (plugin or extension) to play back the H.264 encoded videos, which is less CPU intensive than Flash.
Click to expand...

I recently found ClickToPlugin which is a more general version of ClickToFlash. It is great because it handles silverlight and other things that require plugins. It gives you the H.264 from youtube and other sites like ClickToFlash does.
 
MrXiro

MrXiro

macrumors 68040
Nov 2, 2007
3,850
599
Los Angeles
The Samurai said:
the only question the new 11" owner should have is... why on earth he bought the current gen when a new one is round the corner (well, literally) :D :D :D :D
Click to expand...

I find it so disheartening that every time someone says anything about buying the current MBA people feel the need to make the buyer feel bad about his/her purchase. Most of the time they know what they bought. They're just looking for advice. You don't need to tell them... you shoulda, woulda, coulda. Like any user savvy enough to come to this message board they probably already know.

I love my 11.6 inch MBA. Base model with 2gb RAM too. I got it for 200 bucks off "used" with ZERO charge cycles and I think it's been the best Mac purchase I've made in years.

As for the video issue. Click to Flash doesn't seem to work for Firefox and the one for firefox doesn't seem to let my videos play after I enable the flash. Weird.
 
M

marrzie

macrumors regular
Mar 9, 2011
138
0
MrXiro said:
I find it so disheartening that every time someone says anything about buying the current MBA people feel the need to make the buyer feel bad about his/her purchase. Most of the time they know what they bought. They're just looking for advice. You don't need to tell them... you shoulda, woulda, coulda. Like any user savvy enough to come to this message board they probably already know.
Click to expand...


Not everyone knows. I would certainly appreciate being told if I was unaware. Everyone is different though so no offense to those who prefer to not be told.
 
M

Mr. Mustard

macrumors member
Jun 11, 2007
39
0
CO
The Samurai said:
the only question the new 11" owner should have is... why on earth he bought the current gen when a new one is round the corner (well, literally) :D :D :D :D
Click to expand...

Well, I needed a new laptop really bad. So I picked up a base 11" refurb for $829 the day before the $100 gift card was offered. Called Apple that day and they credited me back the $100 on my credit card. So $729 for an Air is a pretty sweet deal in my book. I'm stoked.
 
G

glen e

macrumors 68030
Jun 19, 2010
2,619
2
Ft Lauderdale
Mr. Mustard said:
Well, I needed a new laptop really bad. So I picked up a base 11" refurb for $829 the day before the $100 gift card was offered. Called Apple that day and they credited me back the $100 on my credit card. So $729 for an Air is a pretty sweet deal in my book. I'm stoked.
Click to expand...


Don't let som of the "experts" here get to you. Many here are so into this stuff they feel the need to sit up on a lifeguard stand and pronounce sentence on those below them.

Hogwash...I run a 2gb 11 64 for office, web and email and am totally satisfied. I bought it 60 days ago.

It all depends what you do with it.
 
H

h00ligan

macrumors 68040
Apr 10, 2003
3,040
138
London
PorterRocks said:
It should be stated that the refresh is only RUMORED to get an i5. No one knows for sure. For all we know, it could just receive a bumped Core 2 Duo. It will undoubtedly receive a thunderbolt port, however.
Click to expand...

Lol, one refresh point is rumored, but the other rumor is undoubtedly going to happen. Cheers for the chuckle.
 
The Samurai

The Samurai

macrumors 68020
Dec 29, 2007
2,055
750
Glasgow
Mr. Mustard said:
Well, I needed a new laptop really bad. So I picked up a base 11" refurb for $829 the day before the $100 gift card was offered. Called Apple that day and they credited me back the $100 on my credit card. So $729 for an Air is a pretty sweet deal in my book. I'm stoked.
Click to expand...

In that case, that is indeed a sweet deal and I too probably would have taken the offer. :D
 
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