Slow Dell M70

[oscar <oscarperpi@mi.madritel.es>]

Hello,

I have installed Debian in a Dell Precision M70 (Centrino 1.86 GHz, 1 GB RAM). 
I have used a kernel 2.6.16.9 customized in order to allow SATA disks during 
boot. I am working with the xorg.conf of 
http://doku.lug-untermain.de/index.php/LUGUM:Debian_Sid_auf_Dell_Precision_M70#X11

I don't know why but I can't install nvidia module, so my laptop now works in 
graphical mode with nv. Since I don't need 3D accelerator it's not a problem 
for me (or at least I think so!).

However something seems to be wrong. For example, when switching from 
graphical mode to console I have to wait around 30 seconds, no error message. 
Or when I open a PDF file not larger than 300 kB, some other programs get 
temporarily stopped when I walk through the document. I think the problem is 
related with graphical performance since I can load in Konsole a binary file 
of more than 200 Mb and work with it without any problem. 

Could somebody give some ideas of where should I look for solutions?

Thanks in advance.

Oscar.