The Tascam Portastudio 424 is a cassette based four track recorder and mixer.  Of course this is an older piece of technology, so I will review the unit based on what it is capable of doing, and not fault it for being a product of its time.  If you're looking to get into recording music, I would definitely recommend looking into a computer based system rather than this one, but if you're looking for four track tape recorder like this one, please continue reading.  Let me start off by saying that this is a popular four track recorder as far as these go, and for a good reason.  For a compact mixer, its got a lot of different features and options including equalization, dbx noise reduction, and some nice faders.  The interface is very user friendly as everything is easily located.  Even if you don't have any prior experience with recording or machines like this, I think you should be able to catch on pretty quickly.  The quality of the recordings you will get as a whole will probably be nothing better than average since you are recording to a tape medium, but at the same time it has a cool quality to it that is hard to replicate without using an actual tape cassette recorder.  The price of the Portastudios 424 has fallen significantly, so if you're looking to play around with a four track tape recorder that is put together well, this is a great time to buy this one.  Tascam is one of the best at their game, especially with products made around this time period.  These are readily available on eBay, so if you're interested in picking one up you'll be able to find one no problem.  If you're going to go the four track tape route, either for your main set up or for playing around with on the side, the Tascam Portastudio 424 is the model I would definitely recommend.