Fwiw, I'm using one of the smaller Nektar keyboards (the Impact GX 61) and it's quite ok. What you need to know with all these cheaper controllers is that the keys usually aren't anything to write home about, same goes for the rubber trigger pads. After all, there's a reason why dedicated masterkeyboards and trigger-pads come at a cost.
I'm not advocating against buying anything Nektar, but in my case, the keys are comparatively loud and feel sort of spongy (I think the springs used are quite strong). As a result, when playing through monitors, I need to turn up my volume some, so that the keyboard noise is covered.
Their Panorama series might be one step up, but I wouldn't bet for this to be true for the keyboards. Make sure they offer a decent return policy (I guess Sweetwater does...).
As far as DAW control goes - hm, you'll possibly be wasting money here. Thing is, with non-motorized faders and non-endless knobs, you'll get no feedback from the DAW. In other words, once you change a parameter with your mouse, that change won't be reflected on your controller. In addition, once you move one of the faders/knobs from another value than what is set in your DAW, you'll experience parameter jumps.
Been there, done that (I had a fader/knob equipped M-Audio Oxygen before).
Personally (your mileage may however greatly vary), in case I'd buy a new controller keyboard, I'd rather go for one with better feeling (and less loud) keys and less fancy features. In case I wanted DAW control, I'd rather get an additional controller of whatever kind, possibly one suited to work extremely well with my very DAW of chith the fader/knob controls on the Panorama series, you actually get some visual feedback on the keyboard display as to where your DAW settings are compared to the physical slider/knobs. The keyboard won’t adjust the parameters until you align it it with the DAW setting. This helps prevent any sudden jumps.
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