Is it better to have a usb mixing console for home recording?

alastairmnr Asked: Is it better to have a usb mixing console for home recording?

Hi, I'm thinking about home recording, mainly for drums and possibly guitars, bass, keys and vocals for my band as we can't really afford to rent a studio atm. So my question is one of many parts so here we go:

1. What set of drum mics would recommend for a budget of around 150-200? (must include overheads/instrument mics as well)
2. Should I get a mixing console to plug all the drum mics in as well other instrument mics and should i get a usb connecting one or just buy a regular one with an usb audio interface to go straight to the computer? (Budget is around 100-150)
3. Is there any affordable recording software to record on and what would you recommend ( budget up to 70 recording will be done on a HP Pavilion DV6 3100 laptop with windows 7)