Jim,

I prefer Harddisk-recorder.
UD is very right about the noise of PC/MAC based systems.
Dan01 has a good point too : Plug and Play for dedicated Harddisk-recorders. (Computers sometimes behave as 'plug and pRay' equipment.

I used to have a Roland VS880, then switched to VS1880 (with built in noisy fan)... made a jump to Digi001 (Protools) and finally ended at a Yamaha AW16G (no noisy fan or HDD)

On my PC I have Cubase SX...great software but plugins require lots of CPU power and money while an AW16G has everything in it !!
(dynamics, EQ's, DSP's real faders and buttons)
I must admit, since XP the PC's run very reliable, but still I record multitracks on AW16G.
Mastering is done on PC with Soundforge.

Roel