building basic home studio

i just bought an mpc 2500. i want to record from home but it seems like there are too many options out there. i basically want to record beats and sequences from my mpc to a computer, and then lay vocals down. money is tight, so i am looking for the best/most affordable gear.

what computer/laptop should i get?
what recording software should i use?
what hardware interface should i get?

thanks!

Laptop/Computer- Get the best you can afford. You can save alot of bread by building your own though.

Audio interface- The emu 0404 and the m-audio delta 44 are to inexpensive interfaces that come to mind. If you want to record multiple tracks into your DAW, you will need to look at other interfaces that have multiple inputs.

Recording Software- In my opinion REAPER wins hands down. Its very friendly to your pockets ($50) and very intuitive. Many people are putting there $500 programs to rest after using this amazing software. I downloaded reaper a little over a month ago and i havent touched Cubase since!!

look for m-audio delta 1010 audio interface, it has 10 ins and 10 outs. Good for recording multiple tracks.

if money is tight, then one computer option is to get a mac g4 tower and logic express. this should be more than fast enough and have plenty of storage to do what you want. should only cost a couple of hundred.
maybe the older g5 towers are selling cheaply now. not sure.

is anyone here running a g4?

Learn how to use the mpc before you do anything.

*yeah beach_break got 3 G4's still runnin strong at my house.