Will the Grass Valley ADVC-110 converter work for this application? I know the connections are okay - but concern is whether it will convert "live" event capture. I will feed live analog signal out of a video mixer, convert to firewire for live computer capture of event footage. I also just noticed the ADVC-110 specifies that only SECAM video input is accepted (720x576@25fps) - however I find positive reviews of the product from US users which are presumably NTSC@29.97fps. My live capture signal will be NTSC.

Also, does anyone know of other solutions in $200-300 price range?

The ADVC-110 will work for this purpose. According to Thomson/Grass Valley/Canopus's website, it will do NTSC and PAL. I have used the Sony DVMC-DA2 with great success. It is no longer sold, but you can find it on eBay sometimes (as of this post, there is one for $69 Buy it Now.) Do a search for analog to DV converter on Google or B&H.

I use the Canopus ADVC-110 every week to capture a live NTSC input via RCA Input and into a laptop via firewire. It is then fed into Windows Media Encoder.

Thanks - I'll give it a try.