Singular Sound BeatBuddy Mini 2

Awesome basic machine which is very simple to operate and no set up needed. Have just ordered my second one as a back up for solo gigs. The customer service is great from Singular Sound if you have a question. It is the Mini 2 which is by necessity the less capable of the two offerings, and so has some limitations (but I needed the simplicity rather than the hassle of set up with loads of menus etc on the main beatbuddy!).
1. You cannot stop and start the drum machine mid track for stops or pauses. Rectify that by getting the custom footswitch.
2.You can switch the intros on and off easily but not the outros for some reason, so unless you want the outro (some are not that great), again the footswitch is essential.
3. There are a few extra, more gentle rhythms (folky and country styles) I would have liked to have, but very often there is a setting that works.
4. As it is basically guitar effects pedal size, you really need to mount it (along with footswitch) on a small pedal board. Then works really well.

Its not the drum machine of my dreams, and definitely didn't solve completely the songwriting process, but it is helping me a lot, and doing it with style by letting me change verse to chorus, adding fills and intros and endings. For what is worth, my drummer stopped complaining about my monotonous "hard rock drum beat" of the song ideas I was sending to the band. The drum sounds are of very good quality, very realistic, and the footswitch has a smart interface. Wish they had the same smart interface to the extra footswitch pedal too! Also I wish I had more control over the settings of the pedal, its much restricted!