"Hepster, how do I digitize my record collection?"
Asked more than once, lazy fat bastard Hepcat has harnessed the vast power of the interweb to bring you the best free information money can buy, packaged nice and neat in this tutorial. Use it as springboard for stirring up your own vinyl-party mojo.
Basically, you need a turntable, a preamp, an analog/digital converter, and a computer.
The turntable sends a weak signal to the preamplifier, which boosts the signal and adds EQ so that your music opens like a lotus blossom.
The signal is then passed to the A/D converter, which digitizes the signal to bits and bytes. The A/D converter can be an internal sound card, a USB or Firewire interface, or a PCMCIA card.
Finally, you use a program to record, edit and save the sound.
The Ion Turntable is a complete package, with USB drive is a plug-and-play solution for Mac and PC. Simply unpack, load the drivers, and start spinning. This has very good feedback, but serious turntable users compain about the light build quality. If you're looking for quick and simple, this is your best bet.