There's also the Vox Tonelab. Of the two that you mentioned. I know of at least one band that has used the POD xt for both live and recording. It's a great sounding unit. People will complain that it's not real enough and there's no soul...blah, blah.... When you live in an apartment, cranking a 100 watt stack or a 30Watt tube combo for that matter, is out of the question.

I hate to bring up the "B-Word" but honestly, look into the Be*ringer V-Amp Pro as well... for all the lame/half-assed products they've put out over the years, this one is a real winner. On-par with the POD 2.0/POD Pro at a fraction the cost. I haven't compared it to the POD XT Pro yet...

If you want something just for a DI multi-tool and aren't concerned about having a box to take out to shows I highly recommend the Line6 TonePort. The UX2 is just too much fun.