I use an Alesis io2 Express interface. It has two excellent mic preamps with phantom power for mics that require that. It can be used as a sound card, so you get high quality playback as well.
You need to buy at least one good quality mic. Don't try to record your guitar through a pickup or you won't get the sound of the guitar with any fidelity.
You can use a good pair of headphones to listen to playback or get an amplifier and a nice set of small speakers but don't use the speakers in your laptop or computer speakers, as the fidelity will be poor and you won't know what the recording will sound like on a good system. I recommend buying home stereo speakers, rather than those meant for a studio. In my opinion, there are far more home speakers with accurate natural sound than there are studio speakers. B&W, Polk, Paradigm and KEF make very high quality, un-colored sounding speakers that will give you accurate playback.
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