I am new to recording and I have some questions:

[Caprice]

I use a Powerbook G4 12 inch with OS 10.4, I'll be using Garage Band for my recording as of now.
I want to record my guitar and vocals through a better microphone than whats built in the Powerbook.
I bought a cheap microphone from Radioshack to mess around, brought it home and plugged it into the "mic in" hole on my Powerbook but could not pick up any sound to record.
I researched some on the internet and found that I need a preamp to plug the microphone into to boost the signal so my computer can record it.
I just can't decide which preamp to get. There is so much information out there that I'm a bit overwhelmed when all I want is some simple answers.

Do I plug the preamp into my "mic in" hole when I get it?

I have seen some preamps have USB slots so one can plug the preamp into the computer via USB, but are these really worth it?

I am not looking to spend more than $100.


Thanks for any input,

Caprice