After a lot of debating, I got the Fender Passport 250 system and I'm well pleased with it. I've used it in some surprisingly large venues and it's done well - I've been complimented several times on the quality of the sound. On occasion it has proved to be much better than the house PA system that was available. It's a little heavy for me to lug around (53 lbs.) - it all fits into a suitcase-like package - but if I'm by myself I just carry the components separately It comes with two Fender mikes which are quite acceptable (I've tried it with some really good mikes and it sounds even better). It has four channels plus two stereo inputs which I've used successfully as extra channels (you have to do a bit of adjusting) - so six channels in all. I had a four piece band - vocals and instrumentals who used it and it sounded great. You get cables and everything too, and there's a handy little compartment in the back where all that extra stuff can be stored. The four piece band was the limit, though - you wouldn't be able to manage more than that. Also there aren't a lot of special effects - you can adjust the volume, bass, reverb, etc. but that's about it. However, if you're acoustic that's all you need. I got everything, including mike stands and speaker stands, which you'll need, for less than $1000. That might be a good option for you.