Mike,
    Sorry for the long delay in responding.  The problem you're 
encountering is, basically, because there is no efficient driver 
installed for the video chip you're using (same for the sound, 
actually).  There are basic drivers (framebuffer for the video, and 
similar for the sound), but they don't work as well as the highly tuned 
drivers you're used to in the MS world.  This is a common problem in 
Linux, and it traces to the hardware vendors not wanting to spend time 
writing their drivers for multiple environments.  You can run Linux on a 
PC with excellent results, but it requires a bit of forethought to 
ensure good drivers are available for all of the components before 
purchasing the system.  I've been working with various systems for a 
long time, and Windows systems have the exact same problems, they're 
just handled by the OEM before you ever see the system, since Windows is 
pre-installed, and OEM's have the clout to force the component vendors 
to provide working drivers.

As far as what you can do, DVD playback really taxes the system, 
especially on a laptop, and the lack of hardware acceleration for the 
video is going to make it very nearly impossible to get it working.

If you're up for one more try, there is a proprietary (binary only) 
driver available from ATI at 
(http://www.ati.com/support/drivers/linux/radeon-linux.html?type=linux&prodType=graphic&prod=productsLINUXdriver&submit.x=14&submit.y=9&submit=GO%21), 
but it may not work on the integrated chip in your laptop, since 
Presarios typically use slightly customized versions of vendor chipsets.

You had asked if it was wise to get a different notebook, and HP does 
provide one notebook with SUSE Linux pre-installed, the nx5000, if 
you're interested...  There are other vendors that provide laptops with 
Linux pre-installed as well, some are even based locally.

For reference, the specific error you're getting is from the codec 
library, and indicates that the decoder cannot push the video frames 
through the video driver fast enough to maintain smooth playback.  Since 
the codec is still decoding them well enough, and assumes it is the most 
taxing part of the display pipeline, it figures something's wrong with 
the video subsystem, and exits with that error.  The reason reducing the 
speed slightly made the player run longer before crashing is because it 
reduced the throughput mismatch between the decoder and video.  Further 
reducing the speed might make it play DVD movies, but you'll probably 
notice the speed reduction before you can match the limitations of the 
installed video driver.

I looked around for a driver for the sound used in that laptop, and I 
couldn't find anything written for Linux, so I suspect the sound problem 
will remain an issue for you.

mike hoy wrote:

> i tried mepis and kmix doesn't even have a soundcard listed.
> it's cool, i give up.
> i'm starting to realize that linux on my personal computer is going to 
> be nothing but a lifelong headache.
> it works great on my server, but it's CLI only. the way things ought 
> to be with linux.
> so to heck with it, i'll just use XP. at least that way i'll get full 
> use of my computer.
>
> mike
>
> Lee Einer wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> Jason Hayes wrote:
>>
>>> On Tue, 2005-01-18 at 05:07 -0700, Lee Einer wrote:
>>>
>>>  
>>>
>>>> Before you dump the damnable thing, you may want to try installing 
>>>> Simply Mepis.   
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Does Mepis have a live CD version. I wouldn't mind giving it a try, but
>>> don't want to botch my working Mandrake install.
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>>  
>>>
>> Yes, the Simply Mepis CD runs by default as a live version. If you 
>> like it, there is an icon on the desktop on which you can click to 
>> install it to your hard drive.
>>
>
>
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