DigitalVision, I wholeheartedly agree with Scott. Today's aranger keyboards are light years ahead of where they were just five years ago. The PSR-740 was a gigantic advancement over the PSR-500, the when the 2000 came out, it only took performers a few minutes of exploring the board's attributes to make the decission to upgrade. The PSR-3000 and Tyros have made huge strides in advancing the quality of sampling, plus provided users with one of the must user friendly operating systems available today. That, combined with USB, HD and SM storage, instant access, increible numbers of excellent third party style files, plus relatively low cost made Yamaha the front-runner, IMO, when it comes to which keyboard to purchase.

When I hear individuals talk about poor quality in construction, those statements usually come from those who do not perform on a regular basis at a number of different locations. When you must set up and tear down 4 to 8 times weekly, week after week, month after month and year round, lugging a 55-pound keyboard around in an equally heavy hard case just doesn't make good sense. The same holds true for PA systems, and all the other associated equipment that performing OMB entertainers use in order to be competitive and successful.

I'll stick with the so-called cheesy keys, lightweight plastic housing, aluminum speaker stands, 36.5-pound powered speakers, and load it all on my Rock-N-Roller. Every time I load and unload the cart and van my back says THANK YOU! Advances in arranger keyboards--YOU BET--and lots of them.

Gary