I Need software/hardware advise.

[bentropy]

I'm in almost exactly the same quandry.
I have a 1 ghz powerbook. I was either getting Logic and a 1884 or PT/002. I actually have a 001, but it's PCI, so I can upgrade to a 002 with the plug in deal for $1850. I've decided not to do this. PT is great software for the reasons previous posters have mentioned: easy to use for straightforward recording.

But the problem is Digi. They stunt their "home studio" line in ways that seem very hostile to the consumer. Apple is also an evil corporation I'm sure, but the sacrifices they ask of their users make more sense to me. 002 doesn't have a jog wheel, not because Digi couldn't add one, but because then it would make Digi's upper end devices less attractive. PT LE doesn't support surround/5.1/7.1 mixing (which I or a client might really want at some point soon), for similar reasons. They add features like Beat Detective, and then tell LE users "not for you, though". Screw them. Its nice that they have a hardware upgrade path, but it isn't that attractive pricewise.

I haven't used the 1884. It seems much more full featured than the 002. The 002 is smaller and more portable, which is important to me. The 1884's pres are said by some to be its compromise (there are others that say they're fine, transparent). It has inserts and line ins, so you can always warm things up with a nice outboard pre and compressor before it hits the AD converter.

Logic does have a serious learning curve, but its much better designed and better documented now that its an Apple product. I think about how Apple has developed Final Cut Pro and I just trust them to take Logic forward. PT still isn't a real midi sequencer (is there a drum editor, flexible groove quantizing, etc. yet?). I used to be a Cubase user (up till 4.5 or so) and it had some nice aspects, but I worked at an audio software company that was partnered with Steinberg (and Emagic, MOTU, Digi, etc), and it was clear that they didn't care about the quality of their code, the bugs, the stability nearly as much as the other SW manufacturers.

Price comes in. I'd rather invest in the 1884 (and Logic at educational discount) and maybe think about getting an M-box down the road, essentially viewing it as a dongle to allow me to run PT, relying on the 1884 as the interface and control surface. Protools is the standard in film postproduction, which I'm trying to work in, so I need to have it. But I want to get off of the Digi path.