Hmm, strange .. I checked the codec's and I had a couple installed, for xvid / divx and for mpeg4... so I decided to delete them all and start again and install only one to cover them all, so I uninstalled them all and for some reason all the movies play now and at correct speeds .. and I can't even find a coded installed on my system .. strange

Oh well, it works .. no point fiddling with it .. thanks for the advice you three