« Functional and Inexpensive »

The Alesis Control Pad is e-drum product that contains six rubber pads, and also allows for the input of other trigger pads. The Control Pad converts the triggers into MIDI information and outputs the MIDI. The Control Pad does not contain any sounds of its own. Alesis makes a Performance Pad if you are concerned about having internal sounds. My recommendation though if you are going to use e-drum pads is to make use of software drum libraries (BFD2, Superior Drummer 2, Steven Slate Drums 4, etc.) rather than used built it sound from a drum module or pad. The sounds in a module or pad are typically not very good compared to multi-sampled drum libraries. The Control Pad is perfect for this because it just triggers MIDI.
I use the Alesis Control Pad as the "ride" cymbal in my e-drum kit. I like being able to trigger the 'bell', 'edge', and main portion of the ride cymbal. Typical e-drum cymbal pads cost a lot of money if you want to have 3 zones, and don't really feel much more realistic than this Control Pad. Additionally, I can use the extra zones on the Control Pad for percussion and other cymbals. Try to do that with a 3 zone rubber e-cymbal pad.
All in all, I have been very happy with the Control Pad. I would definitely purchase it again if it broke or was lost/stolen. It is a little unconventional to use it as a "ride" cymbal, but I would recommend considering it instead of spending more money on a different e-cymbal.