I will make sure to post my opinions on it then! 
I will be using my Boss Micro-BR portable recording thingy, in a home environment with no special acoustic arrangements but no noisy background either for that matter.
I listened to your recording, and I agree there is a fairly disturbing amount of background noise.
Was that a computer you had on, or was it the self-noise of the mic? Nice playing by the way.
Also looking forward to hearing your Behringer in action. Especially if you could record a whistle with it.
MTGuru:
You’re not the first to say I’m overthinking things.
I tend to do that, but at least I act even though it takes time. 
I will probably get two separate mics, one condenser and one dynamic. Should be able to find some bargains on the net…
Hm, I have no experience with that kind of hardware. I think you’re gonna have to get a mic and just try it. Don’t you know anyone you can borrow a mic from? Shouldn’t that be hard to find someone who owns a 57/58 and is willing to lend it out for a day or two… those things are virtually indestructible.
My computer is almost dead silent unless I’m playing games and the graphics card fan kicks in, so what you’re hearing is noise introduced by the mixer.
Huh, thanks.
Yeah, you can always look for a used 57/58. And even if you don’t end up recording guitar or mando with it, I’m fairly sure you won’t regret getting one. These are tried and true all-round microphones and no studio no matter its size is complete without at least one or two of 'em.
Nope, I don’t know anyone. With an SM57 that is.
But one could look at it this way: if noise is introduced by the porta studio, maybe that’s something I have to live with since I certainly won’t buy a new one in the near future. And therefore it doesn’t matter anyway.
You could always get yourself a mic preamp. But that would of course mean even more money…
The battle of the clips!
Here’s my SM57 + Xenyx board preamp, mike 2 inches over the 18th fret, “smile” EQ and a touch of noise reduction, no reverb or compression. The guitar strings are pretty dead.
http://www.box.net/shared/0rjrxsq8ae
I think the noise is OK here. And as West says, the other specific equipment and settings will affect the result at least as much as the microphone.
As for the playing, I don’t fingerpick much nowadays, and I’m way out of practice. 
It has begun… 
I don’t think they sound that dead. I am judging from an amateur perspective though, having never used anything more than built-in mics. Sounds pretty much okay to me, and for my needs.
Mind if you upload a clip with some more intense chords-strumming?
You’re better with the whistle. But that doesn’t mean your guitar-playing is bad, because your whistle-playing is insane (in a good way).
Here’s an older experimental clip I posted. The same SM57, but the guitar was farther from the microphone, and the strings were new.
Do you play requests?
Yeah … in a few hours from now I’ll be playing requests for a Christmas party in a helicopter hangar.
Just an important word of warning - do not buy brand new SM57/8’s from online auction sites unless it is a well-known store you trust. It is very hard to recognise the fakes coming out of China. If it sounds cheaper than the street price it’s probably a fake… I will dig out a link I have about spotting fakes when I get a moment.
SM57/8’s are good all-rounders if you are into recording loud amps and drums, but a more sensitive all-rounder would be a small diaphragm condenser. Two gems spring to mind, from my experience:
Studio Electronics SE1 - very cheap and surprisingly good on string instruments.
Rode NT5 - not quite so cheap but a more neutral sound and the ability to buy additional capsules later.
I have done shoot-outs of these and even the SE1 is far nicer in the mid range than the AKG C1000…
If it’s likely that you’ll eventually record lots of vocals too, I would think about a large diaphragm mic instead. See if you can get your hands on a CAD M179, and if not, an M177. Fantastic value for money and incredibly versatile. Lots of people have been raving about these (including me).
Guidance on spotting SM57/58 fakes!!
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/so-much-gear-so-little-time/144385-fake-shure-sm57s-including-pics.html
Thanks.
I think that sounds okay for my needs. I think I’ll buy an SM57 and if I ever need a mic more specialized for guitar I can get one in the future.
Studio Electronics SE1 seems nice for when I buy a condenser. I’ve also looked into the Line-Audio CM3, which I hear is good.
Parkwood: Thanks for the warning! I will probably buy from my local music store, so I guess it won’t be a problem then…
The SE1 is cheaper than the SM57, and far more versatile for quieter sources. I would only favour the 57 if you don’t have any way of feeding the mic phantom power..
Which I don’t.
But if I buy an external phantom power supply, maybe it will not stray too much from the price of an SM57, plus I get a mic that’s better with guitar? How about SE1 and whistle? If it doesn’t work nice with whistle I will get an SM57 instead.
The Micro BR has a usb port, according to the specs. Can it be used for other things than data transfers? If so, you could get a usb condenser mic such as this one. That’s just an example though, I have no idea whether that mic is any good.
I’m pretty sure it’s only data transfers. Good idea otherwise.
I’d be tempted to look at www.thomann.de for a cheap 2 channel power supply such as :
http://www.thomann.de/gb/millenium_pps2.htm
I’ve used this one and it works fine - you may even find one cheaper. If that’s too much extra cost, the SM57 would do fine for now.
SE1 ought to be lovely on the whistle - there’s a possibility that you may have to roll off the higher frequencies slightly, but remember this is much easier to achieve than brightening up a dull sound. You can’t boost frequencies which aren’t there, and the SM57 only goes up to 15khz or so…
… in my experience with these matters, lots of people go for the cheapest solution and then regret it later.
I would personally be looking at a Rode NT5. You could always sell for a decent price on ebay if you got fed up with it, and would also constitute half of a decent pair of mics if you ever want to have a quality stereo pair for recording concerts.
Yeah, I guess. But OTOH, what’s the point of buying a high-end mic when the rest of one’s equipment is low-end? I mean sure, I would still have the mic when I eventually get better gear. But I would rather choose a cheaper mic and have money left to spend on other things.