Take a look at Reaper. My band uses it for all our recording. I've never used SD3 with it, but it is said to have good support for it.
To me, it's been a fairly easy program to learn. I started off with little knowledge of the ins and outs of DAW software, but now I do all of the band's live mixes with it.
It was $60 (US) for me to purchase it. It's more if you're a professional, but you have to make at least $10,000 per year just in music to be required to pay that. If you're a basic user as you say, you should qualify for the lower price. It's the exact same version either way.
They offer a 60-day trial. I'll admit that this trial doesn't end at 60 days, or it didn't for me. I went quite a bit over before I was able to make the purchase, but I never lost any function of the program.
If you're looking to make a switch, it's a solid option!
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Shawn