2.4GHz Core i5 - Frequent hangs in multiple apps, no console message

So, here's what I'm experiencing. It's pretty easy to describe because I haven't been able to find any common element, which is why I am here.

These are *the facts*:

~ (added) I forgot the most important part! My old C2D was working flawlessly, and there's nothing on this new laptop that wasn't on my C2D, except the security update that was released a short while ago.

~ I get fairly frequent beach balls, in multiple applications. These far exceed (in both frequency and duration) what would be considered normal, and what was normal on my 2.4GHz C2D.

~ I get fairly frequent system hangs, originating in multiple applications (which usually starts as a beach ball). In this scenario, everything literally stops, excepting my mouse cursor will still move. I have no visual feedback from anything on the screen at all, and the laptop does not appear to accept or queue any keyboard, trackpad or mouse input.

~ I have not seen any consistent console error message associated with this. In fact, oftentimes there are no messages in the last several minutes prior to and following the phenomenon.

~ I freshly installed the machine upon receipt, and later realized that it had actually only performed an archive and install. I have reset the PRAM, performed a disk repair, and ran a full Cocktail. I have also ran Techtool Deluxe and the hardware test, all with no errors. None of these seemed to have any affect at all.

~ I have tried picking and choosing applications to have running, and to have closed. I have tried turning off the hard disk sleep. I have tried turning off the automatic graphics switching. None had any affect.

~ My resource usage when this occurs varies from very little, to very much. CPU and RAM, at the least, don't appear to be related.

Alright. Now that we have the facts out of the way, let's get to some more obscure *observation and speculation*:

~ This seems to occur in greater frequency when: playing World of Warcraft, shortly after waking from sleep, or when performing large file transfers. However, it also occurs when none of the above are true. Could this indicate that it is related to the hard drive?

~ It almost seemed like this was related to specific software, but as I noted above, I've tried every combination of apps imaginable, and the problem persists.

~ I have seen on two occasions, an error message in console that is generated by different applications (notably Safari and Mail), called INSERT-HANG-DETECTED. If I get the error again I'll post it here, but the error is already out of my logs. In any event, it has not occurred with regularity, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

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The biggest mystery to me in all this is that console reports nothing when this happens. It seems like something so severe that it causes the entire system to hang would at least generate a message.

I am at my wit's end on troubleshooting this, beyond just taking days or weeks to try to pin down a cause. I just spent an entire day Monday getting this laptop set up, and I am truly loathe to reinstall.. again.

Any help or advice is appreciated, including any assistance with troubleshooting, or anyone who can report the same phenomenon. These new i5 processors are amazingly fast on benchmarks, but may as well be the slowest processors on earth if my computer keeps hanging like this.