John, you have asked several subjective questions. My view of things may not be the same as yours.

I bought the micro primarily as a sound module to be used with my Roland AT350C combo organ. I have it mounted on top of the organ with midi connection between the two. So, I will seldom use the keys of the micro. I love the feel of the Roland keybed but it is severely lacking in styles, orchestral voicing and editing functions. That's where the micro will fill in.

Out of the box I was somewhat surprised at the number of buttons for such a small keyboard. I was able to play the small keys fairly easily without looking at the keys. It was a little difficult to move quickly on the keys, though. After playing the micro for a while, I found it took a while to be able to go back to the standard size keys with accuracy. I wouldn't want to try to use the small keys too much. It is certainly not something that would replace a standard sized arranger. BUT, it is a great tool for small venues where compact setups fit well, like a nursing home room for example.

I have the micro connected to the input of the organ which plays through a pretty good speaker system. The sounds of the micro are excellent but not in the same league with my Technics KN7000's, nor the newer PA3X. The voicing is about typical of what one would expect of professional arrangers of the PA50 era.

I'll pass on the investment value question. That's just too subjective. For me, it's just icing on the cake of playing a keybed that feels so good to me (The AT350C). If I knew how to do it, I would post a photo of the way I have the micro and organ setup.