Korg Kontrol49 or Edirol PCR-500

[newbie_here]

So here I am again.

After investigating more and more and more it seems making the choice about what keyboard to buy turned out to be a daunting task.

At first it was the Axiom 49, with the drumpads, but then because of reviews, people saying it sucked, it felt like a toy, it wasn't enough etc etc... I felt like it would be a waste of money.
Then came the E-MU Xboard 49, which is cheaper, but again too much negative reviews, if not about the feeling, then about it going belly up too soon etc.

So one step ahead the ladder we have the Edirol PCR-500, which is like way out of my initial budget ($200), but turns out not many people have posted bad reviews about that one, though I've seen some.
But is still on the list of candidates, because of the drumpads.

And now we have the Korg Kontrol49, which I dunno, seems to be a little more "pro" than the 3 aforementioned products?
At least it has some great looking big drumpads, and hopefully the sliders and knobs are of good quality.
Its expensive as hell though. 400 bucks. Like 200 out of my budget (hence I have to borrow some money etc).

So the question now is, should I get Korg Kontrol49 or Edirol PCR-500?
I'm guessing the Korg slaps the Edirol?

Since drumpads for me are a MUST, another solution in my budget would be something like the Akai MPD16, and a "good" keyboard in the $200- range, but unfortunately anyway, I'm stuck to what I mentioned in that range, or even worst, the watered down versions like the oxygens or key-something from m-audio which are -i think and if not then money makes no difference in this business, and we know it does doh!- worser than the axiom.
Plus I wouldn't like just some plain keyboard and a drumpad.. I also want as much knobs and sliders as I can, unfortunately the novation x-station is totally out of my reach for some years to come.
There is also the Korg MicroKontrol 37, which at $300 sounds sweet, but I think it might be a little "crappier" than the Kontrol49, plus I have settled for 49 keys, no less (since It seems the common factor is, 49 or more,no less).

Thanks for your time

[Ichigo Kurosaki]

"Then came the E-MU Xboard 49, which is cheaper, but again too much negative reviews, if not about the feeling, then about it going belly up too soon etc."? Bad reviews? Please show me... everyone is after the Xboard series. It's cheap, and feels great. You need to try it out.

[newbie_here]

I've seen bad reviews on other musician places.

I know you are in love with it, which is fine but I'm just not getting it and that's it. Plus it doesn't have drumpads as I said, so no thanks.

But this is about the edirol compared to the korg

[Mighty Pea]

I'm interested in how comparable these two are as well. Previously I had my eye on the Korg, but if the Edirol's just as good, I wont have to save up for quite as long.
The fact that the Edirol requires drivers (whereas the Korg doesn't, I believe?) doesn't sit right with me though. If something can just be usb-compliant, I'll like it a hell of a lot more. (goooo driver-issues!)
It's not that big an issue though, obviously. Just one less thing that can go wrong.

I'm mostly looking to hear about people's thoughts on durability and feel. I'm going to use it with XT2 (and 1), so any thoughts on how easy it is to set up would be much appreciated as well. I haven't yet found either of these set up in a turnkey near me, so I'll just have to go on your opinions untill I can.

[newbie_here]

Investigating a bit more I have found a lot of people love the old edirols... until they broke up.
With the new ones (PCR series), it seems most people also love them, but I am not sure how is the dead keys issue, which is mainly what has been keeping me from getting one.

As for the KorgKontrol I have only read good things... just a couple of complains (the usual "doesnt feel right" ones) and that's it.

But now Im going for 61 keys so anyway this is more xboard 69 vs edirol pcr800 now