Green Beginner Overwhelmed by Digital Piano Choices

[splendorlex]

My wife has always wanted a piano in the house. The catch is that nobody in the family plays, at least not yet. I can dink my way through a few tunes my girlfriend taught me years ago, and have a reasonable music background, but I don't really "play." We just bought a new house, and it seems like a good time to add a piano. Especially since we have young children, and think the 7 and 5 year old might be ready to potentially get lessons.

This forum has been awesome for convincing me a Digital Piano might be a better route than an acoustic piano. I was originally tempted by the Craigslist specials that are out there, but I would have NO CLUE whether a particular piano was any good or if it had any major issues.  The flexibility of the DPs, along with the learning tools and the fact that I could afford one NEW are big selling points for me.

The problem is that there are just so, so many. I tried to narrow down to 3 MFGs (Yamaha, Kawai and Roland) but even going to that there are still dozens and dozens to choose from, and I'm not sure what I need to look for. I think the learning features are very important to me, as are the recording capabilities. I don't want to paint myself in a corner with my budget, but I'm probably looking at $1500 or less. I also feel like I don't need to stretch my budget to the top, as nobody plays right now and it COULD end up just taking up space.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[schwartzer]

I'd recommend a YDP-162.

It's a fine instrument. It has GH action which is the 2nd best action yamaha pianos can provide. It's very good looking and it has amazing samples. You can use it with headphones, and the instrument also has a built in recorder and metronome. Come in handy.

You can also go with the YDP-142. It doesn't have the GH mechanism. Instead, it has the GHS. Not a bad action at all, but the GH is light years ahead. It's also a very good looking digital.

They both have the same sound engines and they also have 3 pedals, which is pretty much mandatory at advanced pieces.

[chessman]

I've created simillar topic today https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=54797.0
Have you tried Roland HP series? This is the best I've tried so far but I'm still waiting for some advices. I don't know how expensive they are in other countries but in mine there is less than 2000$ for hp 504, about 2700 for 506 and 3400 for 508. How much can you spend?

[lhorwinkle]

Pianos can be had from $200 to $15,000.
How much money do you want to spend?

[splendorlex]

I'd like to keep it under $1,000, but could go as high as $1,500 potentially. (Financing is something that may be an option as well.)

I know I can get something very cheap on Craigslist, but I'm worried there about buying a dud.

[splendorlex]

I just saw a local CL ad for a 2008 YDP 160 for $750. It has the GH action, but how outdated is this digital piano?

[chessman]

It's not bad but afaik it doesn't recreate many additional piano sounds like sympathetic resonance so I don't really recomend it if it comes to quality of sound.

[splendorlex]

What about the Casio PX780? I was avoiding that brand, but the features and price look right.