Oh well, despite there being multiple threads, here I am in this one.
Like a lot of people have said, it depends on your needs as to which way you'll want to go. Possible needs:
1. Portability. DAW beats desktop PC hands- down. Now, if you can splash out for a quality laptop there are a number of USB or firewire solutions that will give you an even more portable rig than a DAW. That's pricey, though.
2. Number of inputs. Most DAWs will have more inputs (and more variety of inputs, ie, XLR, RCA, 1/4" stereo) than most PC solutions... as a general rule. There are some seriously jacked- up digital audio interfaces for the PC out there... but as a for instance,
my E-MU 1820 has two hybrid xlr/ 1/4" stereo inputs with physical trim knobs... one of them has phantom power. It also has 6 balanced line- level inputs and one set of RCA jacks. That's got all the bases covered for just me or me and a friend... but for recording a band live I'd just about have to go with a two- track from a mixing board setup. Most DAWs can easily accomodate a 4- piece with two vocals, drums through a mixer.
3. Room to grow. PCs are the clear winners here. Need more storage? Add a hard drive. Sick of the effects you've got? Buy some more. Hate the software? There's tons out there.
4. Midi. PCs, obviously, shred DAWs on this point. There's so much synthesis and emulation software out there (a good bit of it free), you can log on to your digital- audio- equipped PC with a keyboard hooked up and not come off for days. Drum machines, pianos, electric pianos, synths, orchestra in a box, you name it... and the quality is getting better and better all the time. It's quite good now, if you've got the dough for it. And, of course, if you're interested in that. If you're a "purist" about such things, this feature won't mean two farthings to you.
5. Reliability. Assuming good construction and hardware, a DAW would be my choice here. PCs have numerous issues... this driver doesn't work right with that OS or config, your PSU isn't beefy enough, PCs or the pertinent applications will crash on you, and most importantly, PCs face obsolescence. It's very difficult to say with any certainty that the equipment you have now will be usable in 10 years, even if it's in working order. OSes become unsupported, software won't work with the new OS, blah blah blah. In terms of reliability, just offhand, I'd say DAW>Mac>Wintel PC.
Bear in mind that reliability with anything will always vary... see previous posts.
6. Multifunctionality. This one belongs to the PC all the way. Besides recording your next masterpiece, a PC will also surf the web, answer email, run graphics software (for the CD cover, of course!), play videogames, play movies, get internet radio, print things, yadda yadda yadda. Odds are you've already got one if you're here... and if so, the necessary hardware and software for audio recording can be had for less than 1/2 the price of a good DAW. Mighty attractive...
And there you go, that's about as much of the debate as I've had with myself over the last few years. You've just got to decide which of those is more important to you.
I'm on a PC, BTW, but I used to be on a Mac and I've worked with a friend's DAW before.
