GW8 it's a better deal to me too.

i don;t think prelude is focusing very much on playback (except for mp3 playback) since does not give much possiblities for editing midi files.

on the other hand, even though s500 has more features, prelude/gw8 gives you better build quality (probably...) and more professional look.

the sounds, at least from this demo, are quite good. i mean the styles sounds, as that sax was not great... but general sound i believe was very pleasent and i am sure many people will buy it.

still, GW8 seems more appealing to me.