You're right ... I swear I read somewhere that all blue US 2KXL's are shipping with stock zip drives ... but not according to Akai
As for your quantize question .. the 2kxl does 96 parts per 1/4th note ... and of course there is always the trick of doubling your tempo if you need more ... but I havent noticed a need to do this on the 2kxl

It records really well, as long as you don't get the dreaded double note when you hit the pad (they are so sensitive sometimes they recognize your finger as being 2 hits of the pad).
I think the only reason Akai made the blue version of the MPC was because the new MPC1000 was blue, and that computer beige color was pretty damn boring IMHO

I think they changed the colors of the rest of their stuff too. They are probably going for product recognition. When you see a bright red keyboard on stage you know its probably a Nord Lead ... that sorta thing. I have zero knowledge on the normal 2K though, sorry
bk