actually, you can do it with a normal tape recorder and a decent mic.  A mini-disc would be one step up and make a huge difference.  I imagine you can purcase a mini-disc recorder for around $200 or so, and a mic( I use a sony mic that I bought for $80, works great).  SO you can get pretty decent quality for less than $300.  If that is too much, get a good mic for around $80, and use a tape recorder.  

You can import that into your computer from the line out(or headphone out) to the line in on your computer.  There are a number of programs available for free, or shareware that is around $30.  With the software I use, I can take bits of a song, convert it to mp3, and then post it on the web.  Only drawback is that the importing is in real time, so it takes as long as whatever you are importing.  

check out minidisco.com for good deals on md equip

Come over to my studio, I'll record you for cheap.

There I'll be after a few martini's with a stripper sitting on my lap..."ok, we're rolling"...."yeah, that sounds great" or the classic "that was magic man!"

Steveguy757, what sound card do you have ?

I agree with Bart that many souncards have line in noise but about a year ago I purchased a SoundBlaster LIVE 1024 and the line in is really clean.....for your purposes it easily good enough. I would imagine that most middle of the range cards have pretty good line in quality.

Some of these souncards now have "optical in" so in theory the digital signal, if you were to use a MiniDisc would stay true to the original recording.....I say in theory because I have had musicians say that when optical transfer works its great but its real fiddly and the cable can be damaged real easily..

Certainly 8bit would be good enough just to hear your self and that resolution won't tax harware atall. As regards 16bit and how it taxes the platforms, I own a Mac and PC, and yes, each platform has its plus points as well as it's negatives but my PC is a lowly Celeron 333 mhz (96meg) and I have no trouble in recording 16 bit sound onto the one drive....I get no clipping what so ever..(I heard that Intel motherboards are better for this)(I apreciate that ALL PCs are different, even in the same MHZ bracket).

As has been mentioned, yes you could use a cassette deck, thats if you have mic imputs in the front but most modern home players dont posses these interfaces anymore so you would have to buy a separate mixer..

Dont be put off by Analogue as the medium is great depending on your deck/mics but in the end it would be handy to transfer the recording to your PC..

Wow, if you want to go real bargain basement, pick yourself up a mono portable tape recorder with a built in condencer mic....that should do the trick if your not fussy and its as portable as a minidisc without the price attached to it..

Good luck.....

it's worth mentioning that I STILL have NOT seen a portable Minidisc recorder with optical out.

hey guys...you just all have to come in Montreal and book a session in my studio 25$/h, canadian.

My favorite little gizmo for the past year and a half has been my "Creative Labs, Nomad Jukebox." It is an MP3 player/Digital recorder.

http://www.nomadworld.com/products/jukebox3/

I have the original Nomad Jukebox that I paid $400 for in February of 2001. (Now it sells for $166 with the 6GB hard drive) The new Jubebox 3, sells for about $350 and has a 20GB hard drive.

I can record up to 7 hours at the highest resolution (48khz stereo) and about 12 hours at 44khz mono.

I record every gig the band does in search for that perfect demo song. No tapes or other media to buy, just plug in the USB cable when you get and it is on the computer to convert to MP3 or burn audio CD's.

I use it to play music during the breaks and don't have to worry about flipping tapes or changing CD's. I keep a few hundred MP3 tunes on it and still have plenty of room to record a 5-hour gig at the highest resolution.

There are other companies making these gizmos but I am not very familiar with the others. I can't say enough of how convenient this little gizmo has been. Maybe I should have put this in the "Reviews" forum?