IPOD and an audiophile soundcard

Converting vinyl to digital is a very time consuming process. It will take roughly twice the playing time of the record. In addition to a good A/D converter you'll also need software for editing and click removal. It may be less trouble to actually go out a purchase CD versions of the music you want to convert.

If I haven't deterred you, then Apogee, Lynx, RME and M-Audio all make high quality soundcards.

I've had the PreSonus Firestation outboard DAC recommended to me. It connects to your PC via Firewire and includes an AD converter ( and mike preamps ). Looks good and I'm looking forward to trying one.

M-Audio's Audiophile 24/96 is quite good, as is their "Revolution" if you desire a more mainstream card for games, etc. Audiophiles desiring the use of an outboard DAC for their PC should steer clear of any of the SoundBlasters (even the Audigy series) as AC97 compatibility means they upsample your 44.1KHz source to 48KHz before sending it to the SPDIF output. None of the M-Audio/RME boards do this. If you desire an AES/EBU output, go for the RME-Audio Digi96/8 PAD. This is a professional card (i.e. for use with a DAW), but if you want quality, it's a great way to go.

More info (in ascending price order):

M-Audio Revolution 7.1:
http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=products.main&ID=0ed0405324041d8025a955aa6ae2db1c

M-Audio Audiophile 2496:
http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=products.main&ID=adf95efc30b88aba043fa8b83343bfb8

RME-Audio DIGI24/96PAD:
http://www.rme-audio.com/english/digi96/digi96pa.htm

Can I get a SPDIF digital out from my laptop?

The Digigram offers a card for adding digital I/O to laptops.