Saving Seq WITH Program data On the MPC? + 1000 vs 2000xl ??

A little background:
Ok so here is the story. i've had a ,pc 2000xl for about a month, shouldnt have got rid of it but i was told by akai that first the 1000 would take pitch bend and modulation wheel midi data indput so i got the 1000 and took it back a few days later because it didn't (was make-n a lot of G-funk type beats that needed pitch bend and mod). So then i was told the 2000xl would do it but i got the same results (found out the 4000 does so i hear). So i ended up keeping it for about a month until i sold my whole studio.

Actual question(s):
I want to get another mpc and i would go with the 2000xl (i'd get a card reader for it though) but i remember that when i tried to save a beat (seq) it would only save the midi data and not the program data as in WHAT programs were used on WHAT seq and actually look for/load them with the seq. So i just started loading the beats straight into pro tools as soon as i made the beat and not saving mpc data. Basically if i wanted to load a saved beat, i'd have to load the beat which was just the midi data i guess and then load the programs seperatly. or have the right programs loaded already then load the beat. So i'm wondering was i doing it worng or what? And if i wasnt is there a way now to have all that info save and load together? i know u'd have to wait a min just like with the zip disk but it would cut out a hell of a lot of BS if it could all load and save the same so it could be somewhat like the 1000.

What i liked about the 1000 was the fact that the programs (kits) were able to be save internally and you could just load and save beats like on anything else but i didn't get that deep into the 1000 at all so i might be limiting myself on editing and what not. PLUS i wanted to know which mpc is better for playing sampled piano's( with a controller of course) and other multisampled sounds?

And how mony programs can you load in a seq on the 1000 compared to the limited 4 on the 2000xl?

Sorry for the long post but i'm just getting back in the game after a year and a half and i was on limited experience with mpc's already so i really need the help. i'm doing all the reasearch i can. Ny the way i'm doing Rap/R&B and right now a mpc, 88 key weighted controller, a couple of synths and a few thousand samples is all i would be using.
So 1000? or 2000xl? why?

They were correct in saying that the MPCs do take pitch bend data input... what they didn't tell you is that it wont effect internal samples, only external modules that support that MIDI signal. It is correct that only the 4k will do this with samples. You can just get an external sampler like one of Akai's S or Z samplers to get this capability along with a 1k/2k.

The workflow on both MPCs are pretty much the same, you really just need to decide between the minor differences as to which one is better for you (they are all over the forum and manual for specifics). When it comes down to it, midi files are for sequences (loops or songs) and program files are for drum maps. You need to save one of each with each project. For it to be compatible with any external system, you would need to load up the same sample map. This is often cumbersome to remap things and will never sound exactly the same if you made any other changes like filters or envelopes. Your best bet is to stick with mapping your drums to the General MIDI standard, then you will be able to switch between most gear.

You can actually load 24 programs on both the 1k and 2k, not 4. What you can do is use 4 simultaneous programs on the 2kXL, I don't even think the 1k does that. This can be a deal breaker if you want to use multiple kits at once. A big advantage the 1k has is 128MB of memory instead of the 2k's 32MB. If you don't use big or many samples, this really wont matter. Other than that, many of the differences between the two are minor and worth researching to see if they matter to you. If you plan to get another sampler (for pitch bend), some of the differences wont matter as much.