The board has some great sounds but it is kind of limited, no external storage (Smart Media, floppy or SCSI) and no sequencer. If you're looking to make beats with this I'm assuming you'll want to be able to sequence parts. This board has no sequencer so you'll need to purchase either a sequencing program and midi interface for your computer or a hardware sequencer. I'm not a synth player so I can't comment on the key action, but I've read that it's pretty good.
If you're looking to make beats on an all in one unit, this wouldn't be the one. You may want to look into some used units. You can probably find an Roland XP-30 used for around the same price range and that would probably be your best bet Roland has to offer. It's highly expandable, has a floppy drive and 16 track sequencer. This would allow you to do everything needed to make pretty decent quality beats.
Hope this helps in making your decision.
