Okay I got my playback to stop slowing down. Not sure how I did it. I followed the Comprehensive Multimedia & Video How-to and Comprehensive Sound Problem Solutions Guide. Both give very good advise. I did get lost in the sound guide. Let's call it being new to Linux. Anyway. I did get the video to stop slowing down. Now the sound cuts out a few minutes into whatever I am watching. It does not matter if it is mpg, avi, mp4, files on my HDD, or DVD.