If you're looking to record from your computer, I recommend using a Blue Snowball USB Microphone...It 's a condenser mic that plugs directly through USB...I've been using mine for about a year now, and the quality is great....It retails for $160, I got mine for $120, but I've seen it as low as $99. It has 3 recording modes, from cardioid to omni-directional. Check it out
here.