Pro Tools Paid Support?

yep

that applies to m-audio stuff too.   that's one reason I dumped my m-audio card that stopped working correctly instead of getting it repaired.  wasn't worth it.
 
NOTE:  there are several "levels" of service available.  I think actually there's a level lower than the $40 one, but they're all based on how much time you and the customer support personell spend together.  IIRC, it was $40 for the first 1/2 hour, but I could be wrong about that.  go to avid or m-audio's website and check out the support information for the facts.

Samplitude goes deep. It did back when I tried it. :)

So it all comes down to the reasons why you are looking for a secondary app. I use PT for compatibility reasons (Samplitude wouldn't help). Otherwise, there's nothing I couldn't do my main app and a decent sample editor.
In all honesty, I've used Cakewalk products, Pro Tools, Logic, Studio One, Harrison MixBus, and I've never ran into an issue that would have required tech support. Or then the occasional known bug - or a new one - but tech support can't really do anything about those - except confirm the bug.

If I were going to use a second DAW it would not be pro tools. I like quality tools that will empower me to have features not already in use and I think Sonar pretty much eclipses pro tools in so many ways it makes it a waste of my time of course I don't own a studio so I am not trying to match up with others systems and only need to consider this for my own usage. I might be interested in adding a mac and access to TDM plugins if I had unlimited amounts of cash but that is not the case at this time. The more toys the better but when budget is an issue as it is with my situation the Cakewalk toy box is the best bang for the buck. Now down the road when I can step into a mac and use another daw with access to other plugins and instruments I will do that but for now I'm stuck in PC land and happy as can be. I really can't say what in such a scenario I would do if a windfall of $$$ fell in my lap. I probably would go with Logic or DP or Cubase before I went with Pro tools. I would probably lean towards Cubase because of the ability to use it on my PC as well.

Not exactly the same, but you can demo Cubase Essential w/o a dongle. 

Of course, the features are limited (number of tracks, included instruments/fx, no 3rd party instruments/fx, etc.) But if you really want to check it out, it might give you a feel of what Cubase is like.

m-audio / avid support of what I've bought in the past has been beyond shonky with none working drivers for 6 months that forced me to buy a new card.. and now they work.

they got told there was issues 4 times with their rubbish drivers and didn't fix them instead posted back with some generic rubbish noob guide to reinstalling.

they also distro'd for propeller heads for a while... again a nightmare, I had to wait 1+ month along with 400 other customers for it to be in the UK.

with making customers buy new midi interfaces etc.. also I think it helps loose them customers, and I won't buy anything from them considering how much I did in the past

Avid recently announced that it was letting go of M-Audio. I hope that this means that they will get back to better support. 

I've had nothing but great experiences w/ M-Audio in the past, whenever I had to contact them. But I guess I've been one of the few lucky guys while they were under the Avid umbrella because I've heard lots of complains. 

But those complains alone were enough to incite me to look for alternatives when I needed a new midi keyboard, new portable monitors and such. A few years ago, I probably wouldn't have even considered alternatives. 

I own/have owned lots of M-Audio stuff, from monitors, to controllers, to preamps to audio interfaces. But at some point last year, I felt that the ice might be getting thin. I had already stopped recommending their product for a while because I didn't feel as confident w/ them...

Oh and glad I could help. Beware though - Cubase is a very nice product but Steinberg really isn't the best company to do business w/ either. They also have one of the worst track record in the business in terms of discontinuing products w/o notice. Not that Cubase is likely to disappear anytime soon, but, since we're talking about poor support...