Cheapest way to record and capture ideas
 

Lots of times I just want to capture song ideas. I don't need menus, effects, just a plain old recorder. Hit record and that's it.

What is the equivilent to the old $30 cassette table top recorder in today's world? As far as sound quality, I am quite happy with tape but setting up my old 4 track with mics and cables is just too much of a hassle.

Any suggestions, and again, I am not too concerned with stunning sound quality, I just want to capture ideas.

If you want minimum quality, just plug a cheap mic into your computer and use a sound recording app. If you want good quality stereo, small and portable, the Zoom H1 is hard to beat for under $100.

Cheap is any of the voice memo recorders or the memo function on your cell phone.

Well my cell phone mic can't handle the input so the sound is terrible. These voice memo recorders, are they ok? I see them in big box stores and I thought about those but I didn't know if the end result would be any better than that from my cell phone.

No, they're not OK, they're cheap. "OK' will run between $80-$100.

I've got one, and it's great.