AppleTV Freezes

Hi,
Everytime after I use my AppleTv after many hours of no use it freezes. I need to pull out the power cord wait a few seconds before putting in in and allowing it to reboot and then it is fine. I also notice at times when browsing the screen flashes or shows some distorted line here and there randomly. This is however very subtle. Once the movie or music starts it is fine. It also works well to play my iTunes music through it, as long as it is not stalled. I was suspecting maybe the hardrive is too old.

It is a 1st gen, there has been no hacks and it has its original 40gig hard drive. BTW is there any reason why I should upgrade this to the 2nd Generation (no hard drive). I was wanting to hold out for Apples Television set in 2013 with Siri.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions / advise.