I would like to use my older Dell Inspiron 1150 as a HD FE. I tried the Live CD R5D1 and can connect to the BE and run HD TV, but it stops and starts and is unwatchable. I run top and see that the CPU (2.6GHz Celeron, 512 RAM) is right at 97% or so. I played with the settings, turning off deinterlacing and still couldn't get smooth playback. I tried Xvmc but I don't think it was running as the OSD was in color.

My question is can this setup work? Do I need more CPU or RAM? Can I get Xvmc to run from the Live CD? Should I install KM instead of running Live CD (this is my windows machine that I need to use or replace)? Do I have other options or do I need a new rig?

TIA

Tried this again last night and couldn't get any further. If I have to install to test, I'll have to dual boot as this is my working winbox. Any suggestions before taking this step is helpful.

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I think you're gonna need a new rig.

I think a 2.6Gig Celeron is underpowered for HD, where a 3Gig P4 is usually quoted as a minimum. Upping the ram may help enough, but I'd consider that unlikely.

Also, XvMC needs a supported graphics card, and I wouldn't be too surprised if the laptop didn't have one.

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Mephi
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R5.5
Opteron 2.Ghz
1Gb Ram, 200Gb Maxtor PATA
Avermedia 771 DVB-T
Hauppauge Nova-S2 (waiting to be installed)
MS MCE2 Remote

Thanks for the excuse to get new equipment But I thought I'd add a couple more details to this situation as I think there might be hope yet. I've read of a few 2ghz + rigs running HDTV. Even if I can just use this laptop to FE an SD tv from HD recordings I'd be happy.

Upon LiveCD boot I get an error about an 'invalid line' and then to press 'space to continue' or it will continue in 30 seconds. The install also appears to find an i810 which should be supported under XvMC. I still don't know if there is enough power to run HDTV cleanly with XvMC support, but I'd like to try.

So first hurdle I want to overcome is getting XvMC to run.

TIA