LinuxQuestions.org - video capture on a notebook

I have a digital camcorder, an analog camcorder, and a set top dvr.

I want to get video and audio material from them onto my notebook (i.e. I don't have any PCI slots, etc. to plug a video capture card into).

My notebook runs kubuntu karmic Linux with Windows XP (in a VM).
It has USB 2.0, firewire, PCI card, and Express Card interfaces.

I am looking for any reasonable way to do this.

All three devices have composite video out and left and right audio out RCA jacks. The digital camcorder also has USB and firewire ports, but didn't come with any software (and AFAIK the software has long since become unavailable).

Plugging the digital camcorder into my notebook via USB or firewire cables didn't do much of anything in either Windows or Linux.

Awhile ago, I bought the Hauppauge USB-Live 2 video capture device (it's a smart cable that's supposed to convert from the RCA plugs to USB), but had no luck getting it to work in my XP vm and very limited results under Linux - with a lot of help from a fellow lug member.

Under Linux, I tried using polaris.

http://kernellabs.com/hg/~dheitmueller/polaris4

At this point, I just want to get the job done any way I can, but since the devices are still in use, it's not a one-shot deal, so I need a solution that will continue to work. I'd prefer it in Linux (where it would also have access to more computing power), but XP would be fine too. If I need a different interface/converter, I will buy one if it's not too expensive.

Soon, I will also have access to my partner's new notebook, but haven't reconfigured it yet. When I do, it will be running kubuntu lucid with Windows 7 in a VM.

This has to be old technology - solved long ago, but I haven't found a solution.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

TIA

Joe