Drum Controller

Hmmm.  I'll take a look at that.  Not sure I would have the room (or would want to put up with what the wife would think!).  I'l do some measurements - thanks for the suggestion.
 
I had been looking at the NI Maschine, as my plans for my summer bonus was to get Komplete.  Getting a Maschine saves me a couple hundred overall in getting into NI. 

There's no difference in latency I would think in any of the major brands, and the driver is probably the same through out the line up from top to bottom. It's a MIDI /USB driver anyhow, not an audio driver.  Yamaha has Stienberg  drivers for there audio stuff so possibly the drums use a Stienberg midi driver.  
The timing is dead on as far as I can tell. I can leave my snare tracks alone because they are either right on the mark or just a hair ahead of the beat which is the whole point. That's why the tracks sound better. Your using a stick, not a finger. and the notes get put where I wanted them to go more or less. 
You will hear latency , of course, if you monitor your playing via a VST drum set. So I use the brain  sounds while tracking so there is zero latency in my headphones. Even at my lowest buffer settings which gives me something like 10 ms RTL I can hear the echo and it throws me off. 
 
Of course the better kits are more satisfying to play especially live. You get better playing surfaces and more zones.  But the low end kits are a big step up from using your fingers, and that was all I was looking for just, like the OP.  
An Octapad or something big enough to hit with a stick would do the same thing. The brain sound quality is not worth worrying about as you will be using a VST once the midi is captured. Mine actually sound pretty good for goofing around when we have a jam session or a porch party. I stick a real snare and Hi Hat in there. I use a patch where the kit snare becomes a cowbell!! We always need more cowbell after all! 
 
FYI The Yamaha kit takes up 36" x 16" of floor space. I have it on my right side and all I do is swivel my chair. It sort of gets in my way when playing guitar but it weighs nothing so I just push it back a bit.