Help Me Buy My Digital Multitracker

[Hoodoo]

I am fairly new to PC recording, so I'm looking for your advice. I want to record some songs (digitally to .wav/MP3) I've written using a variety of "analog" and digital instruments.

My instruments include my (sucky) voice, Fender Strat, bass, drum machine (Roland R-70), harmonica, and possible piano (at another location), Boss SE-70 Effects Processor, old Marantz 6-channel mixer/4-track cassette recorder, and a variety of stomp boxes, mics, etc. My setup also includes a high-performance PC (mostly used for gaming) with the following specs:

- 3.2 Ghz Intel P4 (w/HT)
- 1 Gb RAM (Corsair)
- SB Audigy 2 (without the Pro input box)
- ATI Radeon 9800 All-in-Wonder
- CD/DVD burner

I believe a standalone digital multitracker is what I need, such as the Fostex MR-8 or Zoom MRS802 since I need some portability. I also would appreciate advice on the best sequencer/mixer software for PC (FLstudio, Cakewalk, Adobe Audition, etc.)

I value EASE OF USE and LOW LEARNING CURVE (i.e. hobbyist/prosumer) over super-powerful/feature-rich solutions, as I've got young kids meaning LIMITED TIME.

So, my questions to the experienced PC musicians on this board:

1. What's a good digital multitracker (4 or 8 track) for $200-600?

2. What's a good software package for $100-300 to take tracks from the recorder (which you'll tell me to buy in #1 ;^) and mix down to CDs?

Thanks! I'll post my purchase, setup, and successful recording experiences based on your input. Appreciate your advice!

 

[DAFFYDRUNK]

The Zoom looks kinda interetsting for your app. Even has Phantom power? It says importing wav via optional USB, but what about exporting them to a computer? I assume it could work both ways but probably a good idea to be sure. Wonder how much the optional USB interface costs? Probably want to make sure you can get that for a reasonable cost since you wanna be able to get your stuff into the computer... Should be easy enough to line up your tracks in whatever software you're using though...
Not sure about software but people here seem to like Ntrack for a budget killer app. Never really played with Ntrack yet it since I'm addicted to Acid Pro, which, believe it or not might even work for you. It's a little more expensive though at $350. Then there's that new Tracktion software, but I know nothing about it either other than the 5 minutes I spent checking it out. There's also cakewalk home studio and home studio xl which run $90-$150, and appear to be pretty comprehensive for lower buidget apps.
I'm sure someone else will chime in with a more qualifed opinion, but I like working with apps like Acid since loop oriented software makes aligning stuff, editing, crossfading and creating drum tracks so easy... even stuff that goes beyond loops. The cool thing is the zoomable grid that you can snap to. For example, if I wanted to create a doubling effect I can duplicate a track and zoom up to 128th notes to stagger them a little bit. Also works good for easily aligning a track where your latency is a little high... Figure most of the apps can do that but I dig the way Acid does it...