Home Recording (really on budget)

[exodus]

hey
any of u guy doing home recording with your home pc?
wat is the best set up u think
i'm currently using Sound Blaster Live! soundcards.
-ZOOM 505 guitar effects
-CASIO keyboard
-Peavey Peadator Plus electric guitar
-Washburn D10s acoustic guitar
-Yamaha bass guitar
SOFTWARES
-Cubase VST 3.7
-Wavelab 4.0
-various plugins

[SevenD1_Cuda]

Hey, yeah, what he said. I came into a mid-'03 Thinkpad recently, w/ a 1.4 Ghz processor and 512mb of RAM . . . no idea on the soundcard, but it was purchased through my high school, so I'm guessing it's not amazing. I'd like to set up a simple but competent studio (no MIDI or synth, just recording), and anyone who has any info would be greatly appreciated. I'm looking at Cakewalk Guitar Tracks Pro . . . I've never done any recording before . . . will I know how to use that? Also, what do I need in terms of hardware (i.e. mics, preamps, mixers, monitors, etc.) if I'm only going to record one or two tracks at a time (no band yet, going the Cobain route and laying some songs down first). I won't need any acoustic guitar mics, as I only play electric, and, like my cash-strapped friend above, I have maybe $200-$300 tops to budget on this. Can I still get something decent to take my sound from me playing it to me listening to it in the CD player in my car? Thanks guys, you can email me if you have anything at SevenD1_Cuda@hotmail.com

[SKEETER]

I used to have a ZOOM 505, and it is really hard to use it directly to record, because the output is a little hot for a tape machine, or something. It tends to add extranious distorted noises.