Surelly this is all personal here...
I could never adapt to the Roland - VS thing, dont get me wrong I love Roland,I also owned a Tascam PortaStudio and never figured what this thing was about...so I grew up thinking that I would never get into a computer based audio...A year ago a friend sold me a iMac and I started doing some Cubase/Finale stuff, surelly it had quite a learning curve followed buy many visits to the chiropracter,I had some computer and back freezes and lots of time spent on reading manuals.But the final result was "Look mom no hands.."
Now I have a G4 and a Tascam US-428(midi/audio interface plus controller),a mic pre amp and a condenser mic and of course a Roland XP - 50...(that`s more than enough to start a party...)
The computer may freeze some times ( much less nowdays as I get more used to it )but it is a much better solution, only one year ago I had my first computer( I am a resistant fighter...)I also thought about a VS/computer solution but the VS thing is still too awkward to me ( again this is only personal thoughts...)anyone used to his/her system will say it`s the better way, I am getting used (at light speed)to computers (especially Apple computers)and to me they just seem to be more a practical thing.
Have fun.

Thanks for the reply - I'm a PC guy - due to lots of other computer work on PC based stuff so any computer will have to be the same format due to it being multitask oriented (the same system I record on will be for graphics, documents, web work, etc.) I've always heard Mac was better in graphics and auido but have fared very well on PCs in these areas (including some professional graphics work) with no problems at all. I've checked Sweetwater and it seems there are some cool PC systems like Digi 001 and the Roland Starter kit. Any thoughts from anyone on the best entry level software - and what about base system requirements on the PC?

Alo Amigo.
I have some PC friends and they do a nice work recording stuff at home.I am considering buying a cheap PC just to run midi online and to know a bit better about them (since you see them everywhere....) I went to a studio do some session work and they had two PCs working online ,one was running audio(Nuendo) and the other midi(Cubase) and it worked fine.Being used to Macs my first reaction when a see the music software PC graphics is a "oh my god ,they look so much nicer in a Mac,how can anybody stare for hours in front of such a graphic interface???
Yes I am just a beginner and when I first upgraded to the G4 I had lots of crashes and troubles,the G4 came with two systems (Mac OS 9.1 and OSX) but since I exorcised the OSX ,got rid of a few extensions,and got more used to the machine, I installed Mac OS 9.2.2 ONLY and the crashes disappeared almost completelly.My first computer the iMac almost never crashed,and the G4 was crashing in a every day basis when I first had it...(of course by then I was REALLY thinking about buying a PC).But a friend ( who owns a PC) told me those crashes were for sure all my fault.Nowdays it`s very rare to have a crash using music sofware (it is like once a month or less...) and I only have real crashes (like you must do a restart...)some times using the DVD Player or in the Internet Explorer...
As you see I do lots of internet ,DVD watching,iTunes,Microsoft Office stuff,a little PhotoShop (and I know I should not...)...talk about multi tasking ...Before I had my first computer I Was messing with my friends PCs ,just like a kid no manuals...(and I was crashing them all) when I bought the iMac I was doing the same AND IT ALMOST NEVER CRASHED,I think that little experiment tought me all I need to know about choosing PCs or Macs...
Have fun.