Here is another thought....
Buy it right, buy it once. If you have the option of a average pre-amp and an effects unit, or a really nice sounding pre-amp, get just the nice sounding pre-amp.
As for software, most software programs come with an internal mixer (and lot's of other stuff also). If you have a couple of retailers near you, have a talk to someone from each store, tell them what you want, like how many tracks you want to record at one time, what platform you are using (Mac vs PC), what OS you are using (Mac OS9 / Windows XP). Those questions should limit your choices of programs. The number of inputs will reduce the number of options you can use for sound cards.
Work out your priorities, what you can afford. If you spend say $1000 on 10 items or $1000 on 2 item of better quality, you probably won't need to replace the 2 items (until they break
), where as you might buy better quality version of the 10 cheap things you've bought down the track.
Just a couple of suggestions,
Porter