Most experienced tapers will tell you the quality of your tape is a result of
- mics (most important)
- preamp (2nd most important)
- recorder/AtoD (3rd most important)
It's natural to focus on the recorder because that's the piece you interact with, but skimping on the mics and preamp to buy a nice recorder probably isn't a great strategy. The mics do the hardest part... converting sound energy in the air into voltage.. the preamp preserves it, and the recorder logs it away. If you don't get a good capture at the mics, the finest preamp and recorder in the world can't improve it. Accordingly, it's generally considered wise to spend the biggest chunk of budget on mics, then on preamp, and the least amount on the recorder. I've heard really nice recordings made analog in to a D8, H120, and JB3, and while those aren't the best A/D in the world, they work, because it's all about having a good signal coming into it. Everyone tends to get hung up on bitrate, and there is some truth to it, but it only matters once you get a good analog signal.
The other thing to consider is that some mic and preamp combos go great together, and some don't, and it's sometimes hard to predict what will be a great combo and what won't.
One moderately priced combo that goes pretty well together is a pair of Studio Project C4's and Edirol UA-5. There are hundreds on the LMA
http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=C4%20and%20UA5%20AND%20collection%3Aetree Listen to some and see what you think.
I did a similar search for "H8K and Littlebox" and got nothing. There are quite a few H8K and UA-5 however. My advice to a newbie is to shoot for a known combo that works well, rather than gamble on the unknown. If you happen to pick a combo that doesn't go well together, it's a bummer.
Just my 2 cents worth.