The local GC guy here tells me they will have a T3 in the store by January 15th, which I sincerely hope is the case. Until then, I guess I'll have to reserve my judgment.

For those who have never seen, touched, smelled and spent time exploring the T3, I urge you to do those things before making any sort of judgment on what the keyboard can or cannot do.

Over the years I have been amazed at how only a tiny, fractional percentage of arranger keyboard owners have done much more than turn on the power and begin pressing the keys. I personally know a number of individuals that have never taken their owners manual out of the zip-loc plastic bag it was packaged in.

I suspect the T3 has more onboard features than most TOTL boards, and nearly all will really benefit the end user that takes the time to learn where they are, what they do, and most of all, how to utilize them to their maximum benefit.

As for expecting MORE from Yamaha--I, personally, have been happy with every keyboard they've manufactured since the PSR-500. The only thing I have never liked about any TOTL keyboard is their lousy instruction manuals. If the articles I wrote for the Washington Post were as poorly assembled as the arranger keyboard's manuals I would have been fired when my first article was submitted.

Fortunately, there are some great online sites and forums where everyone can get some first-hand assistance from actual owners and users. I'm confident the T3's operating system has not changed significantly over the T2, which is also a big plus for Yamaha.

If I like what I see, hear and play after January 15, there's a good chance I'll upgrade to the T3. Every owner I've talked with personally claims it's a significant upgrade from the PSR-3000. If this is the case, and the weight increase is not too substantial, I'll be selling one of my PSR-3000s sometime in the near future. If not, those 3000s are still kicking butt.

Cheers.

Gary