Living with Vista / Keyboard Workstation Dilemna

Living with Vista:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,129375-c,vistalonghorn/article.html

His Alesis Photon X25 MIDI controller hardware no longer worked. When he tried to run his favorite DJ software, it didn’t work properly; when he tried to quit the program, Vista rebooted him into Safe Mode

I wonder how long it will take for Vista to be usable for someone who does music?
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Pretty slow on the updates, hopefully that should change soon. I’m thinking about making more video educational tutorials.

Keyboard Workstation dilemna……

Its my birthday coming up soon. I want a keyboard workstation with weighted keys. What do I pick? The music companies are making things really tough for us. Unfortunately its because the keyboards lack key qualities which make any one keyboard the superior choice. Here is a Pro and Con list for each. Keep in mind that I haven’t played any of these! I am just comparing the features and their sound demos. I don’t have everything listed, but this is just in general…

Roland Fantom/Juno-G:
Pros: Nice interface, good sequencer, very nice screen, okay sound banks, sampling.
Cons: $$$ Expensive. The sounds are not quite my cup of tea. Sounds are probably not as editable as they could be. Expansion banks cost money. Only records at 44.1khz.
Sounds: Kind of standard. A little too roland-ish for me to buy it.

Alesis Fusion:
Pro: Price is just right, especially for the 88 key version. Sound is amazing. Sounds are editable patches with 4 synth engines. Comes with free patches from sweetwater.
Con: The sequencer is not good. Bugs. Reports of the keyboard failing. 90-day warranty doesnt seem like enough…..scared to buy this machine, but I want the sounds really bad.
Sounds: Kind of like a 70s muppet christmas special. I love the piano. The synth capabilities are extremely seductive looking.

Yamaha:
Pro: Good sequencer and a system that I might be familiar with (I own a RM1x). Yamaha makes super solid machines.
Cons: Still a little expensive for the features I am looking for. Don’t look the price you paid for them. Sounds can be a little yamaha-ish (bright).
Sounds: Very yamaha ish. Doesn’t look like it has good acoustic sounds.

Korg:
Pro: Long history of making keyboard workstations. Most of them look pretty cool. Touchscreen.
Cons: The sounds don’t grab me, but are pretty decent. Seems like they are not very innovative. Expensive.
Sounds: Eh? What kind of music would I make with this…I don’t know. Not my style.

What do I want? I really want a version of the Alesis Fusion that I could trust. I hope that they make a Fusion 2.0.
I would also love recording features on the Juno-G but its only in 44.1khz! Note to Roland: Some people do make audio for dvds.

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