What I was really wondering is how much of an advancement the G-800 was over its predecessors like the E70 and E86. In Roland's own literature, they make a big deal about supposed improvements to the style engine:
"While previous models were unable to cope with syncopated chord changes, the Arranger of your G-800 will change accordingly, so that you could even play different chords for every eighth note (quaver) of a bar and still benefit from a professional sounding accompaniment."
Personally, I do a lot with syncopated chord changes. If true, this would have been a noticeable and important improvement.
Along with Korg, Roland was one of the first to bring auto-accompaniment into the professional keyboard realm. I wonder when this really happened... Was the G-800 (and the derivative G-1000) the dawn of the pro arranger revolution? Or did the real revolution begin earlier in the '90s with the E-70? I couldn't afford any of these boards back then, and I'm not about to buy them now just to satisfy my curiosity! But some of you gigged them, and an objective magazine review might validate or refute Roland's claimed technical improvements.