Will it work on budget eMachines?

[dom89]

I am intrested in getting the beyontv 4 software with the Hauppauge PVR-150 tuner card. But i was wondering if my computer would be able to handle it. I would like to be able to record in DivX because of space. But if not in mpeg. Most of the shows would be 30min-1hr shows.

These are my specs.

Intel Celeron 2.8GHz
Intel Extrem Graphics 2
240mb ram (graphics card uses 16mb)

Would i be able to run this smoothly on my PC. Like record a show AND be using the PC at the same time?

Thanks in advance

[gsinpei]

If you want to record to Divx it would be better to get a plextor encoder card that has hardware encoding for Divx. The Pvr-150 is an excellent choice for hardware encoded mpeg. You should get another 256 mb ram to keep things running smoothly.

[mrgrocery]

I think you may have an issue with the video card as well. It would seem to meet the minimum requirements if it is DirectX9 compatible but if you want to do other task you maybe want to install a video card(if possible) to help things go smoother.

[HomeyFour]

I have the cheapest eMachines computer from Best Buy, and I use it for BTV Link. The only thing I *had* to do was upgrade the video card, and I upgraded to an Nvidia 6200. (Didn't even try the on board, heck, it might work.)

Later on I dropped in another 256 MB of RAM which was on sale for $19 at Best Buy the next week.

[tscales]

The video card will cause a problem. I had to put a card in to replace the integrated video on my Dell 2400

[Terminal]

The processor is more than enough I used to run on a 750mhz athlon with no issues. I recently upgraded my main computer and put that motherboard in my BTV system, specs. are in sig. As others have said if you want it in DIVx you might consider a DIVx encoder card. It takes awhile for it to encode from MPEG to Divx and with the PVR 150 you will have to convert it. Maybe just adding a bigger hard drive would be the way to go they are pretty cheap right now.

[wessellj]

If you add memory, be careful what type you add. The integrated video that shares the RAM usually will only access certain kinds of memory. Change out the 256 mb stick for two 512's and found that the video card would only display 256 colors.

If you know the motherboard and video chipset, you can look up on Inte,'s site to determine if you need a specific RAM.

[tscales]

You likely just needed to reinstall your video drivers. If the machine accepts the memory, then the video card will too.