Hello all! new to your board but not new to recording.

been reading past posts on the forum looking for a little help on deciding a new setup for my modest home studio.

ok, so i've been stumped about getting a new system for three years now. I was trained on 2" 24tk Studers, and have a bit of experience on Pro Tools HD and LE. but naturally i prefer the linear style recording format.

i've been working with Roland's VS-1880 for six years now. the 18 track machine partially provides what i like - no computers and portability. At the time i bought it it wasn't feasable to get a quality 8tk simultanious PT mobile setup, so that's what i got. I've been pleased with its functionality, and the sound-quality post-mastering of the final product, but a project in 2003 really ended up turning me way off to the setup. Since then, i've been balking on getting a new, improved setup.

My journeys in the real world at stores in the NYC tri-state area have taught me that music store employees don't know enough about either mid or hi end gear, only "inhouse" brands which raise their comissions more; or anything about Macs. i'm asking the internet for help. i'm so out of the loop with gear at this point that i cant even read the mags- they all reference gear that's too new for me to really know.

so here's a little more about what i need it to do, and what i do:

--I mostly work in the country, psych, 60's, folk, rock, classic rock, and all combinations of those four you can think of.
--My current setup is 8 inputs, 18-trks (VS-1880) and i am comfortable working with Pro Tools LE; I'm comfortable installing sound-cards and such; i'm just not comfortable with the hard-core configuring you really need to do in order to really work with pro tools le.
--I have a wide array of condenser & dynamic mics. Some i use on a daily basis: SM57s, AKG D112, AKG C3000s, Shure SM-81 etc. i'm pretty satisfied currently, plan on getting a Sennheiser MD421 soon.
--i mostly work with real instruments, and prefer them, but i am open to replacing the semi-functional MicroMoog i have...
what i need:

-portable or semi-portable recording system, able to record at least 16+ tracks. computer or analog.

--16 tracks simultanious
--be 100% Pro Tools LE, or compatible. this means i get a disc from one studio i can just dump it into my setup. ive seen those 24tk Tascam and MACKIE, and ALESIS units are they worth the $$$?
--I probably will be using an analog board and analog effects. i'll need some nice pre's in there, as i can probably only afford 1-2ch of nice tube pre. I've been thinking about an Allan & Heath for its pre's. or a 1604; something that could be rack-mounted is a big +.
--if its a computer, its gotta be Mac. what would the specs be? (i have a G4 887(?)mhz 12-inch PowerBook, fully blown-out ram i've been using for Bias Peak for 3yrs and i'd prefer to get a new computer, but if this one can handle 16trk simulatious PT LE, then i'll get a new
--obviously i'd need some recommendations for any i/o and ext hard drives.

i guess the components i would need:

-the recording software & any necessary hardware audio for I/O
-the computer.
-the mixer.
-2 channels of tube mic preamp / Avalon combo type / or channel strip with eq, comp etc.
-2 ch nice comp
-4+ of decent compression.
-a decent reverb tank.

my budget is approx. US$1,000 - 4,000max. this $4k figure would include the computer, mixer, or mostly complete package.

thanks rich!