It seems to me, IMHO, that Alesis, maybe except for Adat, has gone downhill over the past few years. Lots of competition.
Little keys/baby keys/ not for me. Full sized keys are my norm. As for synths, it's a real changing market for the biggies. Korg, Yamaha, and last, but not least, Kurzweil. [sp] There are other synths and maybe some very good ones; but I'm most familiar with those mentioned.
I've read some good stuff on this site about Kurzweil synths/stage pianos. I might go that route for the next one. Been with Yamaha a long time from the DX7 to the Motif. I'm beginning to think that 61 keys is a tad limited; might go for more keys next time.
I had an Alesis SP and sold it after a short time. The LCD was small and if I sat at the wrong angle, I could not read what was on it. What genius designed that feature? I replaced the Alesis SP with a Korg and it is a nice 88Full-Sized keys keyboard. Probably the Kurz and Yamaha models might be a bit better today. Hard to judge unless you put your fingers on the board.
If you're in good with your vendor, you can easily get two keyboards shipped to try. But, then, there is the return shipping costs. Best to take a drive to a vendor if one is close enough and try them "all."
Cheers,
Green Hornet