Main actor dropping frames

[dang]

I am using main actor 5.0 with a duron 1100 mhz processor and only 256 mb of ram. I am also using win xp pro and have only 1 HD. I have a sony mini dv camera and transfer the files via firewire to my HD. The raw avi file that it captures looks fine when I transfer it back to my camera, but when I edit the clips in main actor and export the resulting timeline to avi (the only format my camera will see) the clips seem to loose frames and it seems to happen rhythmically evey sec or so. I assumed that the exported avi would not have any compression take place since its really just trimming and combining avi files, but I guess not. Do I just need more memory, or is it perhaps a hardware or software issue? At least I know it "captures" the files from my camera ok. Thanks a bunch.
BTW, I will soon have 512 mb of ram and a new biostar MB.

[BJ_M]

does it look that way in your camera or on the preview ? if its just the preview it is nothing to worry about ..

[dang]

It looks that way on my camera. To test it out, I transfered the edited version and recorded it to a VHS tape then the unedited clips after the edited version. There is an ugly difference between the two that anybody would be able to detect.