All-
** Sorry for the long post **
I have a logistics problem and need some advice. Here's my situation:

HARDWARE:
1) I own a fairly slow Windows 2000 Machine (400Mhz/256 RAM) with limited hard drive space and a writable CD drive. The PC does NOT have a DVD drive.
2) I also own a G3 Mac with tons of HD space (80+ GB) but equally slow resources (G3 processor - older technology) - this also has a CD write drive but no DVD drive.
3) Finally, I just bought the new Titanium Powerbook running the super fast G4 processor. This machine has a lot of RAM and about 6GB's of HD space.

SOFTWARE:
I would like to (eventually) burn my own VCD's and DVD's and now have DVD Studio Pro, Premiere and Final Cut Pro. These are ALL Macintosh versions running on my quick laptop. I also own Mac versions of Media Cleaner 5 and Toast 5. My PC has software to rip DVD's but that's about it. My G3 has all the afforementioned software as well but everything runs comparibly slowly.

WISH LIST:
* I would like to be able to rip DVD's and burn VCD's.
* I also want to "export" video from my TiVo (from the analog output) onto one of my computers to create compilation CD's of my favorite shows (and eventually DVD's)
* I thirdly would like to convert many other analog sources to digital video for similar burning (both VCD and eventually DVD)

POTENTIAL SOLTUIONS WHICH I WOULD LOVE ADVICE ON:

1) For capture of TV shows I am using my TiVo in my living room (away from my computer room). One potential solution for me would be to buy a DV Camera as an analog to digital bridge connecting it via Firewire to my Mac Laptop. This would allow me to also capture other analog materials using the same methods and could allow me to take advantage of my speedy G4 processor for editing. I am guessing I could RIP DVD's and do all the other stuff I need to on this laptop as well so this is a potential complete solution. Problem - very expensive solution and I would have to bring my laptop downstairs with my camera and would need to fiddle with A/V cables for the capture process.

2) I could buy a capture card to capture all sources directly to my computer. This solution would avoid me having to run downstairs with my laptop each time I wanted to grab video as I could jack cable directly into my computer. Problem - These cards require speedy processors. Since I will be doing all work with this video on my G4 laptop, it makes the most sense to capture directly to that computer but I have no idea if there are even options out there to allow that. In this scenario it seems the DVD ripping could again happen on this G4.

I guess I am just wondering where to invest my money. Does it make sense to buy a capture card if I need a DV camera anyway and could get one for a few more bucks? I could build up my PC as just a capturing station but does that make sense since all editting will be done elsewhere? Are there Mac capture cards made to work with my titanium G4? The G3 has tons of HD space... can this work as a simple capture station or is processor speed too important?

I have found this forum a tremendous resource and appreciate all responses.

-mk