Computer studders during movies

[Geek 2.0]

When I watch movies on my mid-2007 iMac, 4 GB RAM, 2.4 GHz 24", the movie sometimes freezes, audio and video, and then after a few seconds (2-5) it starts again, skipping a portion. It doesn't happen too often, but it has gotten to the point where it is annoying. Could it be a hardware error? It happens with both movies off my hard drive and off a DVD. Actually, it may even studder not during movies but just all the time, it's harder to tell. Sometimes, my computer freezes up for 3 seconds or so and I get the beach ball, and then it catches up afterwards. Any suggestions? (Leopard 10.5.2, by the way)

 

[Anaxarxes]

First of all check if you have the latest software updates including graphics firmware update and all the itunes updates.

Secondly, if the computer is brand new, finder might still be indexing, so give it time to fully finish it. (1-2 hours)

And last. It could be a hardware failure, which you might want to go to an Apple store and let the people over there verify the problem.