I use a BR-600.
It does everything I need.

http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.aspx?ObjectId=753&ParentId=110

korg d-888 is a great unit with plenty of inputs 40 gig hard drive some effects. I hve gotten some decent results with it.

I find myself in the same situation. I want to start recording at home so that I can finally post some stuff here. I've never bought recording equipment before so I'm not sure what I need. The Boss BR-600: Digital Recorder looks really cool. At $350 it certainly fits my budget. If I were to buy that unit today, what else would I need to start recording other than the instrument?

I personally like stand-alone recorders.

When you're looking to buy you need to consider what it is you want to do. In my case I needed a minimum of 16 input channels with simultaneous recording on each. But then I'm recording groups and CD projects.

If you just want to record guitar and be able to layer tracks, two inputs are typically sufficient. To get the sound into your recorder you'll need a couple mics.

Dynamic mics are usually used for recording electric guitar. Condensers are generally used for recording acoustic. With a dynamic mic you just plug it in and go. A condenser requires phantom power to operate, so you'll need a phantom power source. Many small units will provide phantom power, but if not you will need a preamp or a mic that uses a battery, (like the AKG C1000S.)

Don't forget mic cables and mic stands.

You can use two dynamics on a guitar cab, but we usually use one dynamic and one condenser or a ribbon mic. No sense going into placement at this point. It's a bit of a variable anyway. Once you get the recorder, mics and accessories, I'm sure you'll have more questions.

Oh, yeah... You can record direct too and then apply guitar effects through the effects supplied with your unit. Many people are not all that happy with the sound they get, but you can start recording without mics to get a good idea of how it's all done.

And be careful! Recording can be a deep hole if you get hooked. I've spent about $70,000 on recording gear so far and there is really no end in sight.

There are 2 ways here.
Buying a decent stand-alone recorder or buying an USB interface, so you can plug it into your computer.
Of course, then you'll need software (Audacity or CuBase will do it).
It depends on what you want to do (a good stand alone will allow you to record a whole band, a USB is only for one guitar so..)

I think I'd like the stand-alone recorder. I probably won't be using mics too much, but I'd like that option. I'm basically looking for something easy to use and sounds reasonably good. Once I get the idea of what I really want to record, I'd probably take it to and actual studio. I'm starting to see this as a whole new realm of financial terror.

Financial terror ! well put Fred.
I noticed that the Boss BR-600 comes with 128 meg memory card, that's about enough memory to record 1 - 10 minute track at 44.1khz 16 bits. You will need some memory to edit any track you record. Sure, you can buy larger capacity memory cards, so maybe that isn't too big an issue.
This Fostex ( http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fostex-MR8HD-8Track-Digital-Recorder-with-40GB-Hard-Drive?sku=240341 ) has a 40 gig hard drive, but does not have built in mics, so you will need a mic, or two, which is probably a good idea anyway.
I really have very little knowledge of stand alone work stations. I've been using my computer(s) to record with for over 10 years now, and have no intention of changing.
We are all amateurs, and make no bones about it, and mostly just goof around with our music, not taking any aspect of it all that seriously, just a little fun stuff to fill the weekends, and escape family responsibilities for a few hours, but if you're so inclined, here's a link to a few of our musings. http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=587872&content=music

for the BR600...

The 1 gig flash cards are about $17. I have two. I get about 15 compositions per card before I have to erase any data to make room for more. I typically end up with about 16 individual tracks taking up space by the time i'm done mixing but this varies by the song project. Capacity is not so much an issue. Just copy from the flash card to the computer and you have it forever. Copy it back to the flash card if you ever want to continue to work with that project.

I guess it's like anything else. For example, when I bought an acoustic guitar, I had to have a better one. Then I needed an electric and with that came an amp, with pedals, and cables, and stands, and more guitars, and another amp because tube amps are better because everyone says so, so naturally, I just have to have one, and by now I'm addicted to things I just have to have, but don't really need. I can see that happening here. I'll buy a recording device, then mics, mic stands, cables, monitors, then a digital turbo 8000 flash card flingamajig with a flux capacitor for better sound and hide-ability from the wife and....

Good catch, mono tracks are approx. 5 meg per min.
Haven't seen too many cd players that will play mono tracks though, so you'll probably end up with a stereo track eventually.