I've got a Zoom R-24. You can find them used for $250-350. You might even find a new one. They are great for recording, you've got plenty of tracks and they can be transferred directly as WAV files to massage in a DAW. I've used mine for years as a great 8 track mobile recorder.
If you want new, I would be looking at something like the Tascam Model 12,16 or 24. They are like using an old style mixer/tape deck without the tape. Record right to an SD card. The DP24SD is another good alternative as is the Zoom R20. I don't know if the R-20 files can be read directly from the SD card into a computer. It's something you might want to investigate.
What is best will depend on your needs, simultaneous tracks to be recorded, total number of tracks, how you like to work. I like the use of SD cards. I buy them 10 at a time, like we used to buy reels of tape a case at a time. Make the recording, dump it to the computer, then put the SD in an envelope to file away. I don't bother reusing them when they cost $8 for 4 hours of 8 tracks @ 24bit.
You could buy old hard disk recorders like the Yamaha AW1600, a Tascam Neo 2488, Roland VS 2480, etc. but remember that you are buying limited storage space on an old style hard drive. You can possibly replace it with an SSD but you still have limited space. That means backing up projects and wiping old ones. SDHC cards are SO MUCH nicer to deal with.
