Older MB crashes during netflix only!

[TheDivingDog]

I have searched online to no avail. I'm hoping somebody much smarter than I can figure this one out.
I have an older macbook, bought in 2005! I have a 2 ghz intel core duo processor and 2 gb sdram. I have had very little problems, until now. Recently I joined netflix and started streaming video. All of a sudden my mb started crashing while watching netflix in full screen only. Next it started crashing just while watching netflix. This happened both in safari and firefox.
At first I thought it was silverlight, so I reinstalled, but no help. Next I thought it was just time to update to the latest os x. I just installed snow leopard and the latest silverlight. Still crashes!!
I opened activity monitor, and lo and behold while watching netflix in safari my safari cpu usage hovers around %100! When I pause the movie it drops down to %25. Is this normal? Is this the reason my mb keeps crashing? And most importantly, how can I fix this?? I am now addicted to netflix, and hells no I can't afford a new computer...

 

[mr.steevo]

I opened activity monitor, and lo and behold while watching netflix in safari my safari cpu usage hovers around %100! When I pause the movie it drops down to %25.

It might be getting too hot from running at 100% for a sustained period. One thing I would do is login to your Netflix account and look for the option to reduce the quality of the video stream. That may give the Macbook less to work with and possibly reduce processor usage.

Another thing I would do is ensure that the Macbook is well ventilated and able to disperse heat effectively. Don't have it sit on carpet or blankets and try to raise it up so that more airflow can help cool it. Possibly having a fan blowing on it would help things out a bit.

If you have a TV already then another option is to buy a streaming device to connect to the TV. A lot of new BluRay players now come with Netflix streaming capability and are cheaper than a computer/PS3 or even Apple TV.

 

[Dk525]

Netflix Crashing

I have a brand new 17" Macbook Pro with 8 gb of ram. When using Netflix on Safari 5, the screen will either freeze up and audio will still play or the display will do a crazy split screen. No controls work and I have to hold the power button to restart. Then I get a blue screen, the fan starts going fast but the computer still gets burning hot and it never boots up. I force restarted 3 times and then it booted up. It's driving me crazy since this computer is brand new.
Went back on Netflix and it did it again!