The jury is in. The G70, with the many choices of V-drums, edges out the Echo only in that area. Also, the Echo makes my audio really shine, compared to the Realtek, or whatever chip is Windows XP. Whenever possible,I will use the G70 with Makeup, and Echo for the netbook. There might be better out there, but the improvement is so vast, I will keep what I have for midi. I will also look at MP3 since my audio is vastly improved, also.

I appreciate all of your thoughts.
Bernie