I'm thinking about getting a drum machine, and I can't decide what kind I want, and I was wondering if anyone had any experience or knowledge of the 2 I was thinking about.
My decision has come between the Alesis SR16 Drum Machine and the Zoom RT223 Rhythm Trak Drum Machine.

all you need is a monkey and some drumsticks. and some bananas.

I have had the Alesis SR16 for 10 years now - I thought that it would have been considered obsolete until I saw one in the music store and asked. The dude said that people are still asking for them and that it is still a 'current' machine. I just kept using it because I liked it. The sounds are quite nice but the cymbals leave a lot to be desired...as do cymbals on any drum machine that I've come acrosss actually...the 'decay' time isn't realistic...meaning that they fade too fast. In the context of a song it is harder to notice though because of the other things going on. The hi-hat sounds are good as are the rides and such. It is highly programmable and it will take a while to actually get a handle on it but it is a good machine. I often use it for demos and whatnot.
Here is an example of using it on a heavy song...the song starts out slow but picks up later on...

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...?bandID=105031

Here are other examples of the SR-16...Thinking About Me is classic rock...Let The Flames Dance is also classic rock/pop and Nicholson Guru is a somewhat complex song 'drum programming'-wise...Shine is very pop oriented and has some very subtle fills such to 'mimic' what a real drummer would do in such a situation...lots of variety to sample anyway to hear the machine's capabilities.
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...?bandID=263351

The shaker sounds and tamborine and other miscellaneous percussion elements are also the SR-16.

...I can't comment on the other machine...I don't know anything about it.