I base my ratings on the price. I'm a guitarist, I never really played keyboard, I just got it to use with Garageband on my macbook pro. I just plugged it in, and it works perfectly for playing the myraid of instruments on Garageband! I would recommend this to anyone who needs an entry level usb/midi keyboard!

Overall, this is a great keyboard if you're short on money or space. It's pretty responsive and has nice light synth action. The "thumbstick" pitchbender is cool. The 10-octave range is a nice upgrade.

Here's some things to be aware of: -- The keys bend a little if you play really hard -- Keep the manual handy if you're going to use pedals. -- The pedal jacks are 3.5mm instead of 1/4" -- CME's support is the worst I know. They have a user forum, which apparently they only check a few times a year. -- It's USB powered, so it doesn't come with a power adapter - so be prepared to go looking for one if you're using this over MIDI and not USB.

The software this comes with stinks. The Waldorf Edition won't install. The only good one is Analog Factory, which gives you 200 presets and limited editing of them. If you have a VST host there are lots of great freeware synths out there!

This is a nice controller if that's all you're looking for. It's very no-frills, but that's what I was seeking. I especially like the compact size. It fits on a keyboard tray under my desk.

The build is solid. The keys are responsive but not too springy. I'm pleased. (I will be using for composition/notation purposes, not performance.)

A couple of things are worth noting:

1. The pedal inputs are 1/8" jacks, so you will need an adapter for any pedal which has a 1/4" plug (which most do). That's a bad choice on M-Key's part.

2. Certain webcam drivers (Logitech especially) will interfere with XP recognizing this board. It will be seen as a USB device, but not as a MIDI device. The only option is to uninstall the webcam while using the keyboard. There's a registry tweak available, but it effectively disables the webcam, anyway. Might be a deal-breaker for some.

3. Documentation is machine-translated. Probably won't be an issue for most people, but don't expect to get much trouble-shooting help from the manual.

In short, this controller is far and away better than anything else in the price range. I compared it to M-Audio keyboards and it felt much better in terms of quality and key-feel. The keys are spring-weighted but they felt much closer to real weighted keys than the others I compared it to.

If you're looking for a mid-sized MIDI controller to just get started on, look no further!

Worked flawlessly with XP and Vista (note: see the documentation on how to switch between the two).