Try uninstalling the gadgets , and see how it's working. You can put them back after if you want. Or maybe your laptop it's getting to hot ? try remove the dust inside if so , it will process a lot better after.
Like most of the peoples here i love it. It's much easier to use then any other OS and it's not eating so many resources. My favorite part on it it's the Aero ... brilliant !
I had the same problem and still couldn't make it work. I gave up and blame it on the video-card , that is to old and it's not supporting Aero. Have windows 7 but i can't enjoy Aero.
I have kinda same problem with my mic , tested somewhere else and its working fine , but on my computer it's only working when he wants to. Sometimes it's working fine , sometimes very bad.