ummm, actually, i would *think* it puts more strain on the PC to constantly try to convert an incoming video signal to DVD-compliant MPEG-2 format than to capture DV .AVI files (which require almost 13 GB of hard disk space per hour of footage). i say that because compressing to MPEG-2 on-the-fly is difficult if it's not being done with a dedicated piece of hardware (like a nice Canopus capture card). even then, the quality will be better to convert DV .AVI files to MPEG-2 using good software, as opposed to capturing to MPEG-2 on-the-fly, especially if you do any editing to the video.

the ScenalyzerLive capture software is great for capturing DV .AVI files, and i've read accounts from MANY people who use a slow 500 MHz computer to capture the DV .AVI files (with a decent sized hard disk, i.e. 40 GB or bigger is a good size) using this software. and i these very same people recount how they do not have issues like dropped frames, audio out of sync, etc. so it's obvious that with a good capture software like SCLive - which isn't a RAM hog - that even slower computers can handle the capture load of DV .AVI files with ease.

however, for your issue of not having enough space to capture DV .AVI files, you have several options. buy an additional hard drive for your computer (they're dropping in price constantly); or forget about DV .AVI files and don't bother with them, and try to work out issues with capturing to MPEG-2 on-the-fly.

if you really want to try to tackle the latter, then let's go there. what capture card/device are you using? what version of MainConcept are you using?