i like my standalone (that would probably be a better keyword to use in a search) but you are severely limited in vst's and editing. get a newer one with usb and you can hook it up to a computer when you want to mess around. look for 16 tracks plus and at least 8 recordable at once. it gives you the functionality of a preamp/mixer, digital interface, computer, effects and cd burner plus the magic of a controller - using faders to mix/control parameters.
of course to improve quality i use a bunch of outboard gear as well. most standalones don't have enough phantompowered xlr ins for mics so check that out too.
there won't be tons of info on them here because most pros and hobbyists go for the power and flexibility of a computer based system. if i were starting out now and had a few extra thousand bucks, i would too.
at first glance the yamaha 2400 looks like the most appealing to me.

for the price a good stand alone recorder, you can buy a cheap computer and interface/sound card and a bunch of mic preamps or a mixer. i would say get that, cause its a little more flexible.

recorder

Stand alones are generaly cheaper, not that you can't buy expensive one, but you need to put pencil to paper and see what the totals are. You can pick up some standalones new for 800 with 16 track, 8 simultan recording. For doing demos they can be fine, they are portable and have their advantages, you can actually get a pretty good sound out of them, I do in my home studio.
Folks like to brag up their yuppie pre-amps and all but they ain't any closer to a million dollar studio then you are, just becuase they spend a few thousand dollars more than you, as in you spend a thousand and they spend 3 thousand, in the end you are both miles away from the big boys.
Anyway.........
For the computer route, write down everything you'll need, sound card, pre-amp, software, whatever and total it up. Jot down what you are getting going the computer route and what you get that is included in the stand alone.
I did the same think when I bought my stand alone. In the end I looked at what it would cost me for a computer, preamp,card, etc....looked at the price and said "do I want to, can I afford to pay that much more?"
Sure you can use an existing computer you already have if that is convient and it is fast enough etc... personaly I work with computers, I'm a software engineer, and I went with a stand alone. For a couple reason, 1) I've got enough shit on my computer already, and when it's time to reload the operating system and reconfigure dealing with any recording I would have on there was a thought I didn't like. 2) Computers can really suck and be very un-reliable, my friend lent me his recording software and preamp to try out, it was a major pain to get it working then there was latency, dah dah dah, sure it can all be fine. and while going the comptuer route can be flexible, you still gotta buy that next piece of flexibility, look at the prices of some software add ons. My experince with software for music is, alot of it sucks, and it cost you money to find out.
Anyway there's lots to read up on and educate yourself, it's all part of it, and whatever you learn will come in handy later.......

well said. and remember that the interface (faders) in every standalone is the luxurious last expendature of most computer based daw's. i did a little mixing on a friends cubase pc - sticking cursers, million mouse moves, screen changes and slides etc. my yamaha has motorized faders to control diff. things - i fly through basic mixing.

Thanks a lot for the info guys!

So i think i decided on this standalone. Its pretty nice any thoughts?
http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-TAS-2488-PAK--m-05_71.html#