As well, with regards to your laptop, if it has firewire (stay away from the USB ones, they are generally aimed pretty low) - MAudio has a Firewire1814 (18 in, 14 out) at
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/...base_id/112605
which is about $600. Note that only 8 of the 18 are analog and thus available right away, most of the rest are ADAT style light pipes. You can, however, get additional components that will take, say, 8 channels of analog and turn them into ADAT, so this option might have some expansion potential in the future.
I've never used this gear, though, so no personal recommendation
-OG