audio to USB to laptop for low-cost recording

[Doug Cooper]

A recent Digital Audio Recorder thread on this list recommended
the Edirol R-1 Portable 24-Bit WAVE Recorder & Player.

  Does anybody on the list have any experience using simpler
audio-to-USB devices to hook up existing microphones and
laptop computers as a much cheaper alternative for fieldwork?
It's not clear to me why there's such a persistent prejudice
against using laptops for recording given true digital input.

  For example, these devices (also from Edirol) seem to have
the same A/D specs as the R-1, but cost well under US$200:

 http://www.edirol.com/products/info/ua20.html
 http://www.edirol.com/products/info/ua3fx.html

  For that matter, has anybody seen a direct-to-digital/USB
microphone under $200 or so (that can also be plugged directly
into a laptop), and which might also be a reasonable alternative?

   Finally, Nick T. mentioned that typical audio software loses
data if, for some reason, the recording fails before the file is
saved.  Can anybody suggest an app that supports direct-to-disk
(i.e. hard drive) recording?

   Thanks very much,
   Doug Cooper
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