Kelly - In all honesty I would not recommend the e403 for anyone even mildly interested in arranger keyboards for anything but fooling around. Its "many features" will fall short of needs and wants very quickly if you are serious about your music making. It is a 'getting started' keyboard and you will soon want to step up to something with more complete features. Unfortunately, the $250 or so that you paid will be money out the window, since you will not be able to resell it for anything close to half.

My suggestion is to look into Casio or continue to look at used arrangers, say less than 3-4 yrs old. There are many members here who would sell a good arranger at a reasonable price to a serious newcomer. Check the SZ Wanted to Buy or Sell forum, Sweetwater Trading Post or your local Craig's List for leads.

If, on the other hand, you are a complete novice, I think the e403 does have some useful learning tools - but that's it.

Just saw this on the Buy&Sell forum: http://www.synthzone.com/ubbs/Forum29/HTML/002195.html

[This message has been edited by cassp (edited 08-02-2007).]