I'm looking for a cheap way to digitally record interviews.
These interviews are for family history / genealogy, so they
don't have to be great quality; OK quality is good enough.
My goal is to be able to record a conversation into a *.wav
or *.mp3 type file, and store that file on my computer for
less than $75 plus my current equipment (a laptop and some
compact flash cards).

I tried a ($10) microphone from radio shack hooked directly
into my computer, but the results were terrible! (Even to
my bad ears.)

So my basic question is this: would it be better to buy a
better microphone and hook it up directly to my computer,
or buy a mini-digital recorder and USB it to my computer.

The secondary question is this: if I my a mic, what kind
is best for this application, or if I buy a digital voice
recorder, what kind is best for this?

The computer in question is an old IBM thinkpad 1400 laptop,
which has some Yamaha software installed (but I don't know
the exact sound card, if that matters).

I can buy an Olympus WD-90, for about $60, and it seems
to do exactly what I want. Or, I'm sure I can buy a good
mic for less than that, and use the laptop. The WD-90
is more portable and in some ways easier, but I'm worried
about sound quality. (And I know that my computer will be
able to record much more than a WD-90.)

Any thoughts on these issues?

Joshua Levy

If you buy a 20 or 30 dollar microphone (like audio-technica) and hook
it up to your sound hard using a 1/4/ to 1/8 adapter you should be
well off. The weekest link in your setup is the cheap desktop
microphone.
If you really want a great set up get a 60 dollar mixer, a 30 dollar
microphone, and a better sound card. Yeah..the sound card will run you
150 or so (and get one that has RCA or 1/4 inputs).
I'm researching digital voice recorders myself at the moment. What is
important is the memory that comes with it, the sampling rate, and
the frequency responce rate.