Basic question about the Snow

[mindstarr]

Hi there,

I am considering buying a Virus TI Snow but I don't have Ableton/other DAW or a MIDI keyboard/controller. I am a relative beginner to the music production world, so I would appreciate your help with trying to understand what I need in order to use the Snow for DJ purposes (I'm thinking specifically about the Atomizer function here). Here are my questions:

Do I need a keyboard to control atomizer, or can it be done relatively efficiently directly from the Snow itself?

How would one feed sound into the Snow from a pc in order to use Atomizer? Exactly what connections do I need (just USB)?

Similarly, how do I get the output from the TI Snow into the PC? Input on my soundcard is just a standard 3.5mm line in socket. Do I need an external soundcard, or will the USB connection do it? Presumably I will need a DAW in order to record the input onto my computer (Ableton or other), but if I'm just playing live I don't think I'd need a DAW, right?

What functions other than Atomizer could I use considering I don't have a DAW or keyboard? Is it really just a matter of buying a keyboard in order to use the product properly, or can I get away without one?

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good but relatively basic keyboard? I hear the Novation Remote 25SL is highly regarded since it has auto mapping to Ableton.

Thank you very much for your help.
Mindstarr