What should I get?

[letclique]

I want to start making songs with my laptop but don't know what to get, and I am looking for inexpensive ideas (Budget of $160 to $200). I was going to buy the Digidesign MBox 2 Mini ($233) that includes Pro Tools LE (But then I would have to buy a mic, mic cord, stand, etc).

So, I was thinking of maybe getting a USB mic like the MXL Studio 1 USB Microphone Desktop Recording Kit (By Marshall Electronics) which cost $62.99. It has a headphone jack and claims to give no latency. And then I was thinking of a good Cakewalk DAW software. I have Windows 7, just to let you know for compatibility reasons.

I already have a Korg NanoKey USB keyboard.

 

[FoulPhil]

I don't know how everyone else feels about this, but I recently needed to try something small and mobile. Something like what you need. I wanted something that would be Windows7 64bit compatible. So, I got a PreSonus Fire Studio Mobile. It costs a little more than you want to spend ($299), but I've been really happy with it.

It comes with PreSonus Studio One Artist (recording software), which is a little limited on some things. It doesn't support plugins unless you upgrade to pro which is another $200.

I upgraded to pro and it's got some amazing features that no other software can come close to doing yet. Here is a link to a video that put a gun to my head and forced me to spend the $200 bucks on the pro version.
http://www.presonus.com/videoPlayer...This=true&TB_iframe=true&height=272&width=400

It was one of the easiest programs for me to learn. I didn't even need to take any tutorials, figured it out just by clicking on stuff. Keep in mind I've used almost every recording software you can think of. It's drop and drag features are so simple it's amazing. You can move things around, punch in and punch out with ease and you don't end up with digital defects like pops and clicks that you get using pro tools. I'm a huge pro tools fan, but even pro tools can't seem to keep up with current technology like 64bit systems.

So, instead of being limited to particular operating systems I choose to have something that can keep up with new technology. It's nice to have choices if you can afford it. It's perfect for one man band - song writer situations like mine