Originally Posted by vdbucks

Is it worth the money? - In my opinion, it's the only Apple product that is. What you get for $200 just can't be matched imho.

As far as external equipment needed, it depends on what you're planning to do with it. The fact that you're even asking though tells me that, like me, you're not an audio production master or anything; so for starters I'd just worry about getting a good midi keyboard and work your way up from there if you need more. The software though, has pretty much all you'd ever really need at the amateur level.