I'm No Johnny Keyboard

[Politicker]

Hello. Knowing nothing about anything, I browsed this forum to learn about MIDI technology and I think I have grasped the basics and come to a conclusion. As a guitarist with a desire to overdub rudimentary keys to my recordings, I'm interested in getting a USB controller and using softsynths. I only need a handful of sounds (piano, organ) and my soundcard does not have MIDI capability. Does this sound reasonable? Is there anything else I should know?

I have been looking at 49-key boards from M-Audio and Edirol. Specific model recommendations are welcome. How much do you have to spend to get piano-weight keys? What would you recommend in the way of simple, bare-bones (and therefore cheap, hopefully) sequencing software? (I record with Cool Edit Pro which lacks this capability). Something like Logic would probably be more program than I want or need. I just want to get what I play onto a track in CEP. I can't imagine I'd need more than a metronome.

That's four questions, then. Thanks all.