[QUOTE=Todd W. White
Lastly, I'm aware that CD's are going away faster than cassettes did - what's the best way to archive them once we've translated them to digital? A portable mega hard drive, perhaps?

Thanks for your input.[/QUOTE]

The hard drive will work well.

The best solution I have found is to find an older Power Mac G5 computer and use it as a music server. You can pick one up very reasonably ($100- $300) and they sound great. I personally find it pretty impressive.

It will also have optical in/out as well as analog.

The factory software included Apples Garage Band that is great for editing/mixing. Itunes has all the playback options one could ask for.

It has room for two hard drives inside so backing up your data (highly recommended) is a breeze. If you get a chance, its worth an audition... You might really like it.