Everybody will disagree for sure.. but a Hi-MD + mikes would be nice.
I have a Sony NH900 and a Sony DS70P, paid 160€ (mint condition + other things..) this summer, and I recorded Springsteen in a stadium from the pit area. It came out nice, beside some songs were I sang all the time. PM me if you want an exampe to listen how it sounds.
In my opinion, for the beginning, a Hi-MD recorder is nice; if you look on eBay you can find some Sony NH700 for less than 100$. You can record up to 94 min. in WAV quality, up to 7 hours @ 256kbps, which it's a restpectable quality. Let your ears judge and not the others' comments.
For the mikes.. the Sony DS70P is obiviously not a nice deal if you look at Church's products.. I have never tried any of these, but according to hours of listening they are worth every cent of their price. A nice set of CA11 costs about 120$, add 30$ for the battery box (as the mikes and condenser mikes and they work with electric power, which is given by the battery box.. for almost every Sony mikes of the ECM series the power is given by the mic in of Sony MDs or DATs).
By the way the more I tape the more I understand that you can make a great recording (..and I mean a very great one) even with a bad equipment, if you know how to do your job.