This might be a strange situation but I hope you can help. We have a very expensive TV/Camera system in our work van that records video in the sewer. Problem is it records to VHS! The manufacturer has a DVD burning option but it's still inconvenient because it would take time to rip the DVD to a computer before editing for a customer. This VHS system does have a yellow video out jack. Is there any way I can pipe this video out jack to some kind of digital converter box and then send it to an external USB or Firewire drive? I'm trying to keep this system portable and small without a laptop or computer involved int he capture. Does this sound doable?? Looking forward to your guys input.

You won't be able to do it without a laptop or computer. You need a video card with a composite input and video recording software to put it on a hard drive. A laptop isn't going to be much larger then an external hard drive though. You can get a PCMCIA video card that will take the output from your VHS system.

I would have sworn there was a product out there somewhere that can capture without a PC or laptop..... hmmm.... Thanks for your quick reply!

You can get a digital video recorder. It works without a computer but you might need a monitor to see the output.