What Jack said. Though first, it might help if we knew if you were planning on recording taper-friendly artists or not. Regardless, the recorder is the place to start. The consensus on taperssection.com is the Sony PCM-M10. It's $245 and comes in fashion colors:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc..._Recorder.html
Also, every taper worth his salt will tell you that internal mics should be avoided, even on a great recorder like the M10. Church Audio, Naiant, and Sound Professionals make great stealth-able mics that a lot of folks also use for non-stealth situations. My stealth mics are Naiant U-C's that I got used in the Yard Sale at TS for about $60. I plug those into a Tascam Dr-05, which, sadly, does NOT come in fashion colors, but at $70 is a bit cheaper:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...d_Digital.html
The battery life is phenomenal on the DR-05, too, but many tapers have said it's not as good quality.
My open taping rig features a Marantz PMD660, which is no longer available.
Most tapers will also recommend, with the Church Audio mics, that you get either a preamp or a battery box to power them. I don't use one, and I've had decent results, but a preamp would improve them. A preamp boosts the mic signal to line level, which, for most recorders, sounds better and prevents the signal from being overdriven at loud shows.
Church Audio:
http://www.church-audio.com/
Naiant:
http://naiant.com/
Sound Professionals:
http://www.soundprofessionals.com/
Visit the taping forum or taperssection.com for more information.
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