I have really enjoyed this small debate here. As a 50 year old with a life history from age 5 involved in piano, guitar, brass, and now exclusely as a jazz pianist in a duo - where I do some composing - I have a combined workstation/arranger interest. Having owned several synths - Rolands, Yamahas, Triton, Karma,M1 - ad nauseum - I do know that great sounds and sequences can come from them. I feel they are primarily designed for ensemble or studio work. The arranger seems truly targeted (so far) at the needs of the one-man-band. The sounds are normally combined sounds and don't tend to be as powerful or sophisticated as stand alone synths for that reason (I think). There is an argument that workstations provide primarily a sequenced song/song style - which if you play against it with another instrument is like playing along with a tape/cd. Arrangers? - completely opposite. Unfortunately - from my experience - both of those methods can sound a bit canned for my taste -

What I hope to do when I find the best arranger for me is to do both - and use each method somewhat minimally compared to my actual realtime piano playing - that is - to have some real time accompaniment - and to occasionally press a button(s) to trigger a recorded sequence(s)such as one might do on a work station - I believe using both of those methods in conjunction with basic piano playing has the potential to really catch the attention of very talented musicians who have felt that arrangers belong in the toy category. I am guilty of having had the same thoughts - and no doubt some of it is related to music snobbery - things change. One thing I know for sure. Musicians are really attracted to the latest, greatest thing. It takes a great deal of maturity to quit buying and accept your own limits as well as figuring out how to best use the time you have available for creating and playing.

regards
Mike