Well it's pretty much a continum of prices vs. features. You're right that for a few hundred more you can get the Tascam with 8 track simultaneous recording. If that's important to you, like say you want to mic up a drum set which can eat up 7 of the inputs all by it's self
then that would be money well spent. For what my son will be doing I think four will be more than enough to get started and as with any computer related equipment it doesn't make much sense to buy more than you need since the price keeps coming down and the quality keeps getting better.
There's also the Fostex D888 which trades off more inputs for less effects. That might be a good choice for someone that intends to do all of they're processing on a computer, already has another effects processor or is recording material which is best left alone. Another common trade off is number of XLR inputs. It's nice that the different companies seem to have gone after different segments of the market rather than just copy each other. There should be the "perfect mix" out there for just about everybody
I figure if he gets to the point he needs more inputs then we can get a second box and sync them with the MIDI connection. Then again, maybe not but that's part of the learning curve with this first piece of gear. So for us it seems to make sense to save the $$$ until we're a little more educated. Speaking of which I'm quickly getting an education in how much all of the "extras" cost. Stuff like mics, cables, stands... Again, you can do the trade off or $200 vs features all the way up to spending a couple of grand. In boats it's call two-foot-itis
The reviews I read about the Fostex crashing seemed to be related to the earlier generation and that has been fixed on those boxes by a software update. One thing I liked about the Fostex, according to the specs and the reviews is how easy it seems to be transfering tracks back and forth between the computer and the recorder. Since the box is a present for my son we won't know if this is true until Christmas day
