A cheap laptop, cheap microphone, cheap mixer if necessary, and free
software would do the job just fine.
If you are already using sound reinforcement, you will already have
everything necessary bar the laptop or tape recorder anyway.
Depends what format you ultimately want IMO. No way would I record to tape
these days if I want a CD output. And no way would I copy or store cassettes
any more. I doubt anyone will be able to play them soon.
The problem with a laptop are;
1) disk space. About 1G for an hour,
Not a problem at all given hard disk sizes compared to maximum tape lengths!
Definitely a problem for cassette though with 60 minute per side tapes quite
fragile, and 90 minute tapes needing changing every 45 minutes if the
machine is not auto reversing (and those are mostly crap in any case)
And if you only need to record one microphone 44/16 mono works out to
350MB/Hr, double that for stereo, not 1GB. And even less if you record
direct to MP3.
2) conversion to a format that people can play back (mp3?)
How is that a problem for laptop recording? Most recorders can do it on the
fly if you want, which cuts your disk requirements even further.
And duplicating CD's is far easier than tape, with no further quality loss.
5) you might have to buy software
Plenty of free software that will do the job.
MrT.