Squeak, I think Casio gives you the most for your money in that price range. Since Casio doesn't only sell their keyboard to music stores, but to Sam's Club, Best Buy, etc. they are able to sell a very inexpensive instrument. These keyboards are mass produced in China by the gazillions.

I hope that Yamaha can learn a thing or two from Casio in regards to features.

People aren't mentioning styles in this argument. I would imagine that a lot of money goes into creating new styles. If the Tyros 2 has 150 new styles, I imagine that Yamaha had to hire a lot of studio musicians and paid a producer and engineer to create these. Maybe one reason that the arrangers don't appear to give you as much for the money has to do with the price of creating quality styles - and some of the Yamaha styles are exquisite. I use some styles from other keyboards - like Roland, Korg, Technics - but the Yamaha styles really wow my audiences, and the production quality seems to be at a higher level IMO.

I am quite confident that the Tyros 2 will not disappoint. Of course, those who want 76 keys, a 1 gig megapiano, all the sequencing capabilities of Cakewalk, and onboard speakers will not be happy, but those who want to put on a great show with no quirks or record song ideas onto their computer will be quite happy.

Beakybird