If you're going to be playing in a band and you don't need backing or auto-accompaniment, then you might be wasting money by looking at an arranger.

You told us the type of music you want to play, but what types of sounds are you most interested in ?

If you want a new kb with some acoustic sounds ( pianos, organs plus some digitally recorded synth sounds - .ie non analog or analog modeled ), you could buy a very decent lower end synth for 5-7 hundred US dollars. Ones that come to mind off the top of my head are the Yamaha SO3, Kurzweil KME-61, and the Alesis QS6.2.

You may find some other used synths and maybe with luck something around 300-400 Usd or so.


I'd recommend two sites for user reviews for new and used boards:
http://www.sonicstate.com/synth/index.cfm
http://www.harmony-central.com/Synth/Data/00man.html

The WK series of boards really seem to be pretty decent bang for the buck too.


Good Luck.

AJ