I've posted this on the "Wanted to buy and sell" page...
A friend of mine is looking to buy a kb for his son who is in college:
88 regular keys(not thin), touch sensitive w/some effects ie, organ, strings, elec piano etc and w/ just basic computer functions and built in recorder... portable, that will fit on stand...

Any ideas?

thnx,
t.

Casio Privia, the PX-555 in particular.

The board by which all others are measured....

Yamaha P-250!!

Just purchased it and it is outrageous! You swear you are playing a concert grand.

Al

P.S. I paid $1700.00

http://www.zzounds.com/item--YAMP250



And its "BLACK" Oh Yeah!

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 10-24-2005).]

Thanks guys ... I knew you would come through ....
... much appreciated ...
t.

HI Tony:

I'm a little late on the reply, but I have a Casio PX410r that I sometimes use at gigs as a controller for my PSR 3000. For the money $799. it's a great piano. I believe it's been replaced by the 555 as Esh talked about. Yea, as I love the P250 myself!!

[This message has been edited by Stephenm52 (edited 10-25-2005).]

Have you guys played the new Yamaha P250? I played one last week and the action is much lighter than the older P250's. I read some unhappy posts about this in other forums and I couldn't believe tha Yamaha would change the P250 because it used to be the keyboard of choice for both it's sounds and action... but they did apparently. Seriously, the P250 was sitting next to one of the newer Casio Privias in a music store and I thought the graded hammer keyboard action of the Casio felt better. Yamaha didn't lighten the P250 itself though: it's still 70lbs.

For college dorm use and everything that Tony specified, I would still recommend the lightweight $899 Casio Privia PX-555.

many people just veer away when they see the name Casio....sad, but true

I'm having trouble with it myself. I wouldn't be talking about Casio at all had I not played their PX-555 and liked it a lot. It's better than the earlier Privias. A friend of mine is renting the PX-555's out for people who need digital pianos for weddings etc. and he says that he's getting great response from everyone who plays them.

I'm hoping that Casio takes the PX-555 to a higher level in the future with more polyphony and features... but even as it is, I'd be very tempted to combine the PX-555 with something like the Ketron MidJay for live gigs. Guess I'd have to cover up the keyboard name like the guys on tv do (I've been tempted to do that with my Yamahas lately anyway...).

How much does he want to spend ? Try casio wk-3500 - or if he wants something really good, try roland brands or korg. but they're more expensive. A casio wk-3500 is very cheap and it's good, too. now depends on his son's experience and stuff..