SD recording without a pc/mac

Just thought i'd add a few ideas to this forum as I've been playing around with ways of recording in SD for a while now. I know that there are great HD options like the hauppauge but i'm concentrating on the lower (i.e. cheaper!) end of the scale.

Some of the most common ways of recording in SD (easycap, dazzle etc) all involve a usb connection to a computer of some sort. My aim was to avoid having to use a computer mainly because I would be using the setup at a tournament as opposed to recording at home (and also my laptop is rubbish ). The recording would be done in conjunction with a video splitter so as to avoid lag in the game.

One option that i've tested before is a simple dvd recorder. They are really cheap now and can take s-video input so the quality is quite good. Also, some dvd recorders (and the one i tested) don't actually need to be hooked up to a tv to record. You just make sure the source is set to s-video and press the record button. Here is a sample below:


The downside to this method is that the file sizes on the DVD are big. They are in .vob format (which can just be renamed to .mpeg).

Another method is to use a camcorder which has composite video or s-video input. Again, the s-video input has a nice quality. Here's a sample from a tournament run by the fighting game forum:


Downside is that it is hard to find a camcorder with video input and also the transfer to computer is (i think) in realtime so it could be slow to process and upload etc.

A third option that i've seen is the pinnacle video transfer. Noticed one for sale on adverts recently and checked it out. It accepts input from composite or s-video and records directly to the device (or to an external harddrive). Again quality is definitely acceptable as seen in the sample below:


I've heard mixed reviews about this device but would be worth it if picked up cheap second-hand.

So these are the options i can think of. If anyone else knows of any other options or setups you can post them here.