I just got an Akai MPK249, Guitar Center had them on sale for $279 (reg $399).
Nice bit of kit, it even has a Sonar mode preset. It also has presets for Drumazon, Nepheton, and Battery. w00t! The keys feel nice (synth action), a bit more snappy than the M-Audio sponge. It also came with a couple free synths (Twist and Hybrid). I'm not the kind of person who likes to labor over customizing settings, I don't have time for that, so it's nice to get something that's useable out of the box. That being said, everything about the controller is tweakable so I'll probably end up fiddling with the presets at some point.
I'm not a keyboard player but my LaunchKey 25 was getting to be a bit limiting and my Fantom X6 is a little too large for the quick grab. 49 keys seems like a perfect tradeoff between range and size for production.
If it doesn't catch fire in the next couple hours, I suspect that it's going to work out very well in my studio.
If you're looking for a nice MIDI controller that's got most things well covered...
 

 
Nice looking keyboard.  Let us know how you like it once you've had a chance to play with it a bit.
 
I'm interested in hearing how well it integrates with Sonar controls-wise.
 

Yea, 49 keys seems about right.  I know my Novation 25 is OK.
 
So yea, let us know about the key size and as a controller.
 
@

I just ordered the same keyboard from guitar center.. I was going to grab a Axiom Air 49. But this seemed like a awesome deal.. glad to know it is easily setup in sonar.. I dont understand all that stuff all that much

I have one as well.  Best hardware quality of any keyboard midi controller IMHO.  Large and stable bouncy keys, hefty and smooth faders and pan knobs.  And buttons that give a sturdy and reassuring "click" when pressed. Everything else feels like a toy by comparison.  

I was thinking about getting the mpk249 midi keyboard myself especially since i have the older model mpk49. I also would like to hear how well it works. Does anybody here know how to setup the older one with Sonar Artist.I just purchased it yesterday and I can't find any info or videos explaining how to including getting the transport buttons, knobs and faders to work as well. Mpk49 has a Sonar preset already installed but it doesn't work.

UnknownReality81
Does anybody here know how to setup the older one with Sonar Artist.I just purchased it yesterday and I can't find any info or videos explaining how to including getting the transport buttons, knobs and faders to work as well. Mpk49 has a Sonar preset already installed but it doesn't work.

See this video on using ACT within Sonar :  Sonar X1 - ACT setup.
 
The video is for Sonar X1, but I doubt anything has changed with ACT since then.

I have the MPK261.  It's a great keyboard with great feeling controls and keys. 
 
I'm trying to get the MPK261 working with Sonar X3.  There's a preset in the preferences for the the MPK49 and it loads within ACT, but none of the controls seem to work.  Does anyone have a profile for the MPK261 they could share, or some help on getting it working?  The keys and pads work, but the transport and any other controls don't.  It works fine in other DAWs like Bitwig and Ableton, so I know it's not the keyboard itself.
 
I have the preset loaded on the keyboard, but it don't seem to do anything other than change the colors of the pads.  Any help would be appreciated.

 
Take a look at azslow3's plugin :
 
You can integrate your Control Surface with SONAR as deep as you want!
 
 

While my site has quite some information, I recommend start with chapters 20 and 40 of SONAR Reference Guide.
 
Since each preset of MPK261 generates different set of MIDI messages, existing preset will work only in case your current MPK preset is the same as for someone who done the preset. But "learning" your MPK will take 1-2 minutes only (just do not mix "MIDI Learning" inside ACT MIDI/Generic Surface, "MIDI Learning" within SONAR (remote control) and ACT learning, they are all different).