I am a big advocate of using a stand-alone digital recorder, preferably one that has some sort of removable storage media that can then be inserted into a desktop computer or laptop. In the computer, you can do the final mix and also burn CDs. The advantage of that method is that stand-alone recording units are much quieter than PCs or Mac computers, either one, and you can avoid issues with latency or signal-to-noise ratio problems on many soiund cards and motherboard inputs.
Digital recorders are now getting to be the sort of quality where you can come close to the sound that old analog gear used to produce.
Either way, though, a good mic pre-amp and high-quality mics are a big asset. Condensers are best for acoustic instruments and vocals.