looking for good keyboard midi controller for mbp - 49+ keys

hey everyone, ive decided to bite the bullet and start shopping for a keyboard midi controller for my macbook pro. i was looking at the akai mpk49 but its kind of expensive (~400, and i wanted to spend around 300). i wouldn't mind putting money down for it, but ive also read that its mainly set up for reason.

i will start off using garageband, and a lot of people have said the m-audio axiom series works best with apple os x, but ppl have also complained that the drum pads suck and the keyboards aren't too sturdy.

any recommendations?

ive played piano classical/jazz for 10+ yrs so was thinking:
minimum 49 keys+
velocity sensitive
at least semi-weighted keys, if not then fully weighted

a decent drum pad on the keyboard would be a plus

I would absolutely recommend the MPK49, I own this myself and went with the decision to spend the extra money to get this instead of the cheaper M-Audio Axiom based on

-Akai reputation vs. M-Audio reputation
-Build quality, the axioms pots and faders seem very cheap and breakable
-Note repeat on the drum pad for making solid rhythms without DAW quantization
-Keyboard arpeggiator with latch, as far as I have been informed this is a pretty uncommon feature for a midi keyboard

The keyboard comes with default midi mappings for using with Ableton, Reason, Cubase, Logic, etc. so no, it doesnt favor any DAW over another

The only cons Ive heard people mentioning of about the MPK49 are all related to the drum pads not feeling as responsive as the ones on an MPC unit, but this is to be expected when paying a fraction of the cost of an MPC

Im not a piano or keyboard player by any means (learning!) but I feel like the keys feel very solid

Overall, highly recommended, I'm in love with the thing