PITR and warm standby setup questions

I am setting up a warm standby configuration as described here:

http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.2/static/warm-standby.html

Using PostgreSql 8.2.5

My production server is archiving 16MB wal segment files at a rate of 1
every 5 to 10 seconds
My standby server is processing the wal segment files at a rate of 1 every
10 to 40 seconds

At this rate the standby will never keep up with the production server.

The production server has a 10 disk RAID 1+0 configuration and 32GB RAM
The standby server has a 4 disk RAID 1+0 configuration and 16GB RAM, with an
extra disk to hold the wal archive files (separate from the RAID)
otherwise they are identically configured

First question: Can anyone suggest a configuration change that might speed
up processing of the wal segment files on my standby server?

Second question: I have the standby server running in perpetual recovery
mode. After the wal segment file is copied by the restore_command script, is
it safe delete it from my archive? I assume so, but I haven't seen deletion
addressed in any of the documentation or examples I've managed to find
online.

Thanks in advance,
Mason