Annoying video/DVD playback problems on new Mac mini (2010)

I have a Mac mini at home right now, latest edition (2010).
I am very surprised to find that DVD playback exhibits signs of stutters here and there. Not huge stutters, but I can constantly see small "skips" and what seems like frame drops here and there. Playing back the same DVD on a $120 Blu-ray-player shows no sign of this behaviour.
I have tried this on two different TV sets (one 720p and one 1080p), and the mini is not able to play back a DVD without these stutters/skips. Two different blu-ray players play the disc just fine (I have been using Ghost Dog to test - check chapter to and the scenes containing panning, it's easier to notice that way).
It seems ordinary video files playback (files from HD, 720p, mkv) exhibit some of the same behaviour, though this seems more dependent on which app is used for playback. Quicktime seems worse (noticeable stutters/skips), VLC 1.1 a bit better (though both DVD playback and file playback show signs of stutter), while XBMC is the best of the three, with very little frame drop (if that is in fact what it is).
Any idea what's going on here? Why will such a expensive machine with HDMI output not play back video properly, while a cheap Blu-ray-player does it just fine?
Are there any known issues?
(sorry for posting this in the wrong from earlier!)

I have not used the dvd player app in my 2010 mini, but I've certainly played every media type under the sun since receiving it.
It plays them all without dropping frames, stuttering, pausing, etc.
Are you using dvd player with dvd disc images, video ts folders, or actual DVD discs in the drive?
If you're playing a disc image or video ts folder, are you accessing them over wireless networking? If so, try them on the internal drive, or over a wired network connection.
Try turning off the option is in energy saver that allows drive sleep (system sleep can stay where it is, just turn off *hard drive* sleep).
For best performance, make sure you aren't running other apps besides the media player app that you're using at the time.
Make sure you don't have software or utilities running background tasks (such as disk warrior, drive genius or tech tool pro).
If you have external devices connected (including printer and/or scanner), try the system without them connected. Does the video playback improve without them connected? If it does, then try reconnecting them one by one to figure out which one of them is related to the problem.

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    I have tried this on two different TV sets (one 720p and one 1080p), and the mini is not able to play back a DVD without these stutters/skips. Two different blu-ray players play the disc just fine (I have been using Ghost Dog to test - check chapter to and the scenes containing panning, it's easier to notice that way).
    It seems ordinary video files playback (files from HD, 720p, mkv) exhibit some of the same behaviour, though this seems more dependent on which app is used for playback. Quicktime seems worse (noticeable stutters/skips), VLC 1.1 a bit better (though both DVD playback and file playback show signs of stutter), while XBMC is the best of the three, with very little frame drop (if that is in fact what it is).
    Any idea what's going on here? Why will such a expensive machine with HDMI output not play back video properly, while a cheap Blu-ray-player does it just fine?
    Are there any known issues?

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