Where to start with mining?

[Bitarchist]

I want to start mining bitcoins

What are the first steps I need to take?

What should I definitely NOT do?

Thanks

[GSF]

Well i would start with reading a couple guides and learning all the different methods of mining a pick a method that works best for you. Then i would look for a tut on how to set up a mine using your prefered method.

[seanrwcrawford]

In the vein of this question, I saw an ad on Google for Butterfly labs hosted mining, for someone new is this a waste? The fact that you're stuck in a commitment for a full year is a bit worrying. What might be the simplest way for someone new?

[odolvlobo]

The first step is to understand what your goal is.

I you want to earn money, then you should research the financial aspects of mining. You will find that it is difficult to make money because the equipment generally costs more than the BTC you will mine.

If you just want to do it for fun and education, then I would start out mining on your graphics card (if you have a desktop and not a laptop), and then looking into buying a cheap ASIC miner.

You should definitely not pay someone to mine for you. With the current offerings, you will achieve neither of those goals.

[operrajunk74]

Experience with your GPU first, Bitcoin mining, then Scrypt alt coin mining. Learn to use mining profitability calculators.

After this, decide if it is worth or interesting.

[Jacce]

You can try out mining if you find it fun, but you'll earn close to no Bitcoins unless you have really good gear. You could try it, of course, but don't expect too much. Also paying someone else to mine for you is usually not worth.
A better method imo if you want to earn free bitcoins is to check for sites offering free BTC. They usually just require a captcha and your payment link, and though it doesn't pay out very much either, it still gives a lot more BTC than mining with mediocre hardware. Some of the most famous free BTC sites can be found here

[jpesquire]

If you have a little money, it be worth getting ~3 cheap (<$15 if you can find them for that price) USB Block Erupters.  Point those at an alt-coin (e.g. Peercoin) pool to learn how to set everything up and see some positive results.  You will not make back your money, but it will teach you the basics of setting everything up, working with exchanges to get from alt coins to BTC, and trying out different pools.

That's how I started.  I also used my erupters to learn to solo mine and found a Peercoin block, which was fun (and got me hooked on new/better equipment).   

[Bitarchist]

Thanks everyone for the info!

Any specific tuts or threads here on the forum anyone can recommend?

I do have a little money/BTC to invest.
I'm in this for the long haul so an immediate ROI would be nice but not necessary in the beginning.
I mainly want to learn, I find this stuff fascinating!