MPC purchase advice...crossing over

ive been producing with software for years now and have had a fair amount of success using several kinds of programs, FL, acid, CEP, but im tired of software and feel limited by it. im not very familiar with hardware outside of beating on an asr pro but im a position to drop some $$$ on a piece of hardware and from what ive been told and researched MPC seems totally the way to go. anyh advice on where to purchase an MPC other than ebay or guitar center, and what model would be best for me? i make strictly hiphop/triphop beats and want something that can further enhance my abilities as a producer and make warm, smoked out sounding beats. obviously the MPC is more than capable of all that, but i want some insight from cats who have experience with it.
this isnt a bunh of BS either, ill seriously be buying one soon but i want some more backround before i make my first buy. thanks, peace

in my opinion, you can't go wrong wit the XL.

yeah the 2kxl is excellent for the price.

sup yo,

I was in your position last year - been using Reason 2.0 for a couple years and just started hating the feel and also the intense mouse work, i needed something hands on. So I bought the 2kXL, and I'm real happy with it. It has been a mission to suss out upgrades and things where I live because no one else I know has one, but I've just kept persisting and soon I'll be set up totally. When I first got it I didnt know what the farrrk i was doing, I started from skratch with the manual and taught myself everything I know - along with help from MPC tutor of course.
Anyways - wat i'm sayin is when you get the machine try and get everything else you need with it, remember the MPC doesnt come with onboard samples! It is a sampler, not a generator - use everything and you will soon understand what 'feel' means - trust me.
Good luck yo
ess.