i never went with alesis as their keybed was reported on multiple places as plastic and cheap, simply ewwww. And since i am a keyboard player, keybed is really important as i like to set down and just play with a hardware synth.

i bought the Roland A800 Pro, upon finding my way into the deep menu, i can customize the velo curve and the keybed feels really good.
Well the A800Pro went out of production i think ... but driver should work as it relies only on windows stock drivers.

Also the 61key option was a wise decision i made, it is so much easier now to play pads with a wide chords section.

I also picked up a small cheap Akai LPK25, its very good if you are on the road with your notebook and want to have a play on a few melodies.

Haha i have never used the drum pads on the A800Pro, since i bought a launchpad X a bit after the A800Pro.

Forgot to mention that you cant use the A800Pro with a USB2 to DC adapter and connect to a hardware Synth via MIDI. Roland seems to have made it impossible to use USB and MIDI at the same time. My Xboard25 can do that. Thats the only limitation i have found so far.