| I got a drum machine cause I got sick of hearing that damn metronome click/beep. A DJ friend of mine gave me a Boss Dr. Rhythm DR-5. It was a little more than I had wanted and I just got aggrivated with it. I bought a Zoom MRT-3b(around $100) and it has been great to me. It's got all sorts of different pre-programmed beats on it, and you can make your own. At first, I was just using it for a metronome(kick,kick,kick,snare) but now I find myself just playing with it to come up with new beats to groove to. I've also programmed whole drum parts to songs to practice with. I am really glad that I got it. The Zoom is simple to use. As far as software, I believe there is free downloadable stuff such as Hydrogen or Hammerhead(I think that's what it's called). Also, if you can, go to GC or Sam Ash and play around with some. Hopefully this can help you out. | 
