So for me, it's down to the BOSS RC-20 and Digitech JAMMAN.
The jamman seems to be a clear winner, but 2 user reviews on Amazon claim it adds or removes beats at will. I'll obviously test it before I buy, and can always return it, but that's not good :(
Also on the table is the BOSS RE-20 Space Echo. Not a loop pedal, but the very pretty lady at the store tells me I can do amazing spacy things with it. I'll try all three out, and while the Echo looks like it's a lot of fun to create improvs with, it doesn't really seem to do the job I need, which is have a portable band (via backing tracks, overdub, etc) with me, and the Jamman, with 2 gigs of expandable memory seems to have that.
Anyone try either of these?