Logic 8 or ProTools? Which One?

-- Both apps allow recording on multiple audio tracks dependent on hardware inputs, both allow MIDI data to be recorded and edited, both are non-linear environments, both allow mixing using native and 3rd party plug in, both handle video well, both are simple to use and difficult to master.

Protools limits you to Digidesign hardware that you have to have connected (but can use a range of attendant hardware) Logic allows the use of a lot more 3rd party hardware (inc MOTU and Apogee, prism etc.) There is little wrong with Digi's hardware for project level work, but it's not good enough for high level recording, same is true for the budget Logic compatible hardware.

Both allow HD recording dependent on hardware (up to 192Khz on both systems), and it's entirely possible to begin, edit and mix an entire project in either one exclusively.

You still need to understand recording technique, composition, editing and mixing theory and practice in order to get the best out of either of them.

To my ears, Logic 8 sounds like a toy, this is an observation from a Logic user from 4 onwards, Logic 7 sounds fine, but Logic 8 sounds too close to the artificial sound of Reason and GarageBand to me.

Protools sounds like whatever you put into it, which is what I need from a platform.

The choice (as has been noted here) is about you working style. If you are composing I suggest that Logic (or Neuendo or DP5 or even Abelton Live) is a better choice out of the box and gives a lot of bang for the buck. If you are recording Protools offers a linear workflow and a set of editing tools that Logic has only just caught up with. If you are mixing, neither is really good enough, as they are both native and use the computers on-board processors, mixing in Protools or Logic can only really be achieved without pain on an HD or similarly DSP-rich system.

This is a professional viewpoint. No major studio has one or the other, they have both, and others too. Digi have been at some pains to offer hardware that interfaces well with other software and hardware, and this is the reality of the situation.

Ask yourself what you need to achieve, and for your own sake use your ears, not just the feature list and your eyes.