[Dunhamzzz]

Mini 10/12 owners rejoice! The latest beta version of the long-awaited Flash 10.1 update supports hardware decoding with the GMA 500, as far as the Dell Mini community is concerned, that's the original Dell Mini 10 and Dell Mini 12. The update will allow flash players like Youtube and Hulu to offload the video playback from the CPU to the graphics card, in this case the GMA 500, so that otherwise CPU-intensive jobs like decoding flash are made possible.

I have just done a quick test with my Dell Mini 12 and found the 720p Youtube playback to be improved, but still a bit sluggish, although I have noticed my Dell Mini 12 is always a bit slower than it should be for some reason. 1080p has been reported to be out of the question at this early stage anyway.

Download the Flash Player 10.1 Beta.

You'll also need the latest Intel GMA 500 drivers.

If you take the plunge, please comment with your experiences!

[yorgle]

Forgive my dumb, but does this mean anything for us Mini 9 owners?

[holmes4]

No, it doesn't.

[jeromewoody]

I just downloaded the new beta on both my windows 7 and ubuntu OSes. Although with ubuntu, I'm still getting the same issue that I get with previous attempts to use flash 10.1, which causes my browers to freeze up, forcing me to revert back to the old stable version on flash.

Windows 7 however, I'm having a noticeable improvements in video playback. Hulu is running alot smoother (especially in full screen mode) than in previous betas. Although I don't haven't tested out HD playback yet, I expect similar improvements

[reflex]

Originally Posted by yorgle

Forgive my dumb, but does this mean anything for us Mini 9 owners?

It means nothing. The GMA500 in the Mini 10/12 is entirely different from the GMA950 in the Mini 9/10v (the GMA3150 in the new 10 is similar to the GMA950).

Everything I've read states that the GMA950 graphics in the Mini 9/10v doesn't support video decoding (except for limited MPEG2 support). So, Flash video decoding will always be CPU dependent. It's possible Adobe will work on optimizing Flash for Atom CPUs, but don't hold your breath.

[majhaar]

Tomorrow i'll re-fit my broadcom BCM70012 Crystal HD card in my Mini 9 and see if its any better

MJ

[synaesthesia]

Does this also work for OS X? I can download the beta but do I need to update drivers or anything?

[danmanx]

Tis sad for Mini 9s...sad indeed.

Perhaps a mini computer upgrade will be in my near future.

I do think it's great that flash is finally getting the acceleration it deserves!

[87vert]

too bad its still not much help for OSX I'm still waiting for adobe to support CrystalHD under OSX for my appletv

[strider_mt2k]

Originally Posted by holmes4

No, it doesn't.

Doh.