There are all kinds of trainers on the market from cheap fan type that make the most amount of noise to computer jobs that take most of your money to buy, it just depends on what you can afford. If you just want something simple to train on the get a good fluid trainer the the CycleOps Fluid 2, it's quiet, it can be quite a challenge, it can give you more of workout then you're capable of doing, and it's boring.
As far as the sweating issue goes, yes you will drip all over your bike and onto the floor...so ask yourself a question, why don't you sweat that profusely when your riding outside? because of the wind that you create by pedaling forward, the breeze keeps you fairly comfortable from being soaked and dripping, so apply this inside a house, but how? simply put a larger diameter fan that sits on a pole high enough to hit you in the face and upper body and aim it straight at you to mimic being outside. But even though you use a fan you still need to use a mat, any thin rubber mat will work, even an old piece of carpet will work, or go to a carpet store and get a small 4 to 5 foot wide x 6 or so foot long remenant piece, most of the time they'll give it to you for free.