Hey everyone

I'm considering getting an Akai product, mainly for chopping samples and some drum sequencing. Right now a USB device would work best as I don't have many physical I/O's. Is there a better alternative to the Element?
Or has their marketing strategy got me?
(price is an issue, I'd probably hop on the Maschine wagon if I could)

My main goal is to learn more about sampling phrases from old records and the MPC Essentials software seems like a pretty nice platform to learn on.

Any perspective would be much appreciated