[MPlayer-users] Best setup for video playback on laptop.

[Eddie]

Hello, 

I have an old Gateway Solo 9150 that is finding a new use do to MPlayer.  It's becoming the main video computer for an 
anime club. 
I love MPlayer because it plays anything the club members can find. Even broken and incomplete videos.  Thank you 
MPlayer group!!

As a PII 400 with 256MB of ram, it can play most videos ok at full screen(not the zoom option, but -vm) with no GUI, but 
it takes everything the laptop has to do it.  I would like to get a little better performance out of it.  (It can't handle DVD 
playback too)
I was running the RPM version, but I just tried to compile my own with the disable runtime cpu detect on a fresh install of 
RH9. But playback was worse.  I had to use --framedrop or the audio would get way out of sync after a few minutes. 
Why is this? I'm I doing something wrong?  I removed the source install and went back to RPMs. It seems to be fine 
now. 

Second question. 
I am using the x11 driver. The graphics chip is a ATI Rage LT Pro.  I have been reading a lot of stuff about use this 
driver, or do that, but I am really confused.  What should I do and/or install for better playback? 

And if anyone has any suggestions on how I can make this laptop play videos better with MPlayer, please let me know. 
And yes, I turned off everything on startup. Even syslog. 

Thanks a bunch
Eddie

P.S. Almost forgot.  The first time I run MPlayer with the -vm option, the screen resizes, then mplayer crashes. I have to 
set the screen back to normal by hand, but from then on mplayer -vm works fine and resizes the screen down and back 
like it should. Any idea?