Hi Im new around here, so... HI.

Anywho back to the Q. I play in a 5 person rock band, 2 guitarists a drummer a bassist and a keyboardist. I am looking for not only a live setup but a recording setup as well, I am a carpenter by trade while attending college so I have started building my own studio in my garage. I know everything I need BUT the recording route is a little confusing. I know I need either a digital multitrack recorder with a built in HDD or a computer based hardware config to do the job. Well I have a p4 ht 3.2 ghz proc with a sb audigy and 1.5gb ram and dual HDDs. I also have a p4 2.6 ghz laptop with 512 ram, I kinda want to be able to use the top as much as possible, maybe with an external hdd. So what Im asking is, What is the best piece of hardware (Firewire or USB2.0) I can get that will allow me to record 10 tracks simultaniously and into Sonar 4 without braking me totally(lets say a $500 cap)?

Also do I need any types of preamps if I have a powered 12 channel mixer I am running all of my mics and such through?

I know its a huge Q but I would really appreciate the help, and hey who knows maybe i can help with some pc probs :D