Good digital recorder for gigs for a nweb? Sony M10? Zoom H2?

[HarpNinjaMike]

I am very green to this process, but would like to invest in some gear to record my live shows with a four piece rock band.  I am hoping to get something that is easy to use, affordable, and good enough quality to have some mp3 live demos online.  I was looking at the Zoom H4n or H2, but after some lurking here I see the Sony M10 is popular...

I have absolutely no gear and will be starting from scratch.  I could upgrade to external mics down the road...

Thanks!

[HarpNinjaMike]

I also stumbled on the Tascam D100 and the Edirol R09HR?

[aosone]

... but after some lurking here I see the Sony M10 is popular...

Go for it. There's a good reason why it's popular.

[su6oxone]

The Edirol R-09HR is a solid choice as well.  I used it for over a year and was quite happy with it. 

[HarpNinjaMike]

If I am using just the internal mics for now, is one better than the other?

[sunjan]

would like to invest in some gear to record my live shows with a four piece rock band. 

Seeing that the OP wants to record his own band, it would be a shame to limit yourself to stealth gear, when you could have to option of running open mics and matrix them with a soundboard feed. The cost doesn't have to be much higher, but quality-wise, I'd challenge you to get a better recording with the internal mics of any of the above mentioned recorders.

This matrix rig is 16bit only, but you could top up your budget and get a 24bit rig for not much more:

Pair of Behringer C2 or C4 - $55 http://www.savinglots.com/lotprod.asp?item=C4
UA-5 BMp2+ - $165 http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=137156.0
H1x0 - going rate $80-90 on ebay

Total cost (excl stand/bar/interconnects): $300

[earmonger]

.....the iRiver H120 or H140? That's getting mighty old and, since it's a hard drive in there, I would think it's going to get unreliable sooner rather than later. Also you have to install Rockbox  to keep it from clicking in the recording.

For someone new to recording, you want something that doesn't need to be tweaked or pampered: The Sony PCM-M10, with outboard mics as budget will permit. You can get a good recording of a band with a setup as inexpensive as

SoundProfessionals BMC-2 mics

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-BMC-2

and a battery module,

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-SPSB-8

Total cost, maybe $350. 

SoundPros sometimes suddenly drops the price of the mics to $29 if you keep an eye on them. Get the 3-year warranty if you think you're going to be using them a lot--the wires are thin, for stealth, and they can wear out.

Or get Church Audio mics. Chris Church  makes special offers on taperssection. Make sure their frequency response is 20-20,000 Hz. Some of his mics skimp on the bass (in which case you might as well use the built-ins on the PCM-10).

Mic to battery box to Line-in. Manual level, limiter ON, set the volume knob to 4 (or 3 if you are blasting). Done.

Pair of Behringer C2 or C4 - $55 http://www.savinglots.com/lotprod.asp?item=C4
UA-5 BMp2+ - $165 http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=137156.0
H1x0 - going rate $80-90 on ebay

Total cost (excl stand/bar/interconnects): $300

[sunjan]

.....the iRiver H120 or H140? That's getting mighty old and, since it's a hard drive in there, I would think it's going to get unreliable sooner rather than later. Also you have to install Rockbox  to keep it from clicking in the recording.

For someone new to recording, you want something that doesn't need to be tweaked or pampered...

OK, it's up to the OP to size up his own skills. Top up $25 and one working hour, and you can have the iriver CF modded with 8GB flash memory. Most units for sale these days are rockboxed anyway, and even if they aren't, it's no biggie to install it yourself.

I'm not saying that M10 is a bad recorder. In most ways, it's totally superior to Iriver.
But for open taping, access to the SDB and $350 on your hands, I still concur that you can get better pulls with open mics and matrix ability. If the OP is willing to do the extra legwork...