No roast here folks. Everything was just as I expected. The 2100 is very much like the 2000, as many have said. My personal approach to Yamaha's navigation has always been a friendly connection, but I really had a hard time controlling the velocity with those underweighted keys. The throw is too short and the keys are too narrow for me to find a comfort zone. If I was to play 2 keyboards ..... this would be great as the top board, as long as I had a solid controller to play the bass and chords with.
So...my review:

I was at a shore rib house in NJ. One of my last 2 nights for the summer. The tourists keep the place hopping till labor Day, then it all crumbles. No more weekday entertainment. snif...snif.... I play for the dining croud. The kitchen closed at 9, so we don't get a late hit. It's a gravy job. No pressure at all.

Likes:
mixer section / dsp's - superior design here

Rhodes sounds - wonderful effects !

drum patterns - simple, basic and SO useful

drum fills - logical and musical

Style read from disk - great access, and simple comands to do it.

multitasking - write and edit while you're playing. Never coughed once.

dislikes:
accessing pages within style groups.You have to move your hand to a differnt place to turn the pages. The 9000 used to work like that, but they changed it with Software update. PA80 too. It's clumsy.

AI fingered chord mode. I want 1-finger majors and 2-finger minor, sevenths. Not that weird "black key to the left" deal..

key feel. YUK - Nuff said.

keys. Size DOES matter. It was clumsy and hard to adjust to. in an octave, you loose almost 3/8 of an inch compared to a standard full size key. Strange deal here. They are noticibly narrow.

external power supply. Hate 'em.

harmnonizer - it's fair, but no comparison to what I have in the rack or in the studio.

*** Recap:

People have said it before. The 2100 is only a small step up from the 2000, but if you like swapping data betwen PC and KB, the USB is sure to please. I didn't test the software, but I'm sure it's good. Yamaha is great in the education areas.

The Live piano is better than the grand piano in the 2000 - that alone may be enough for some of you to switch, but it still fell short of my desires. Maybe it's because of the inferior key feel. I can't trigger it in a comfortable manner. There's just not enough resistance, and not enough downward throw to get the velocity response I require. Remember - I cut my teeth on a Rhodes. I'm used to digging in a bit. There's NO room to dig in this keybed. It likes to be tickled.

All in all - it didn't suck. It was pretty much like using a 2000 for me. I'm glad I tried it out before I dump it. I'd hate to ruin this one, like I did the 2k I had, just by pushing buttons and playing dynamic chord changes. It's a great value for the money if you don't care about how it feels or the key size.

If you play alot of solo piano passages...you'll be less than impressed at the performance. if you play styles and arrangements ...... it'll shine. It's easy to use - sounds great, and costs about what it's worth. Good luck to any users out there. I wish I could get excited again, but no ones making what I want yet.
Rats.