Yes.... you can enter drums in a variety of ways.
Loops of course, are but one way. There are midi and audio loops. I too am not a fan of loops.
You can also enter the midi data from a (piano style) midi keyboard set up to control one of the drum synths. You simply identify which drums are triggered by which keys and then simply "play" the drums in as it records to the midi track. I used this method several times. But, not being a drummer.... I wasn't "thinking" like a drummer and the tracks showed that all too clearly.
You could also do the same thing using electronic drums. Just play the drum kit with MC recording.
In addition to those 2 similar methods, you can also enter the drum hits manually with a mouse. Using either the staff or the PRV view...whichever you prefer, you simply mouse in the notes. I used this method when I first was getting started in home recording. This is a slow and time consuming way to create drum tracks. I did use a copy/paste/modify/repeat sort of way to speed things up.
Eventually, I realized the tracks lacked life. Not being a drummer, and all that, they were boring. I found Jamstix which basically did the heavy lifting for me and created a useable drum track for me which I could easily edit as needed. Life got much easier and interesting after Jamstix because JS actually "thinks" like a drummer.
Jamstix website:
http://www.rayzoon.com/