Help! Buying a Digital Piano Tomorrow!

[oceansoul]

Greetings!

Finally, I am going to buy a digital piano! I'm not sure if it is tomorrow, but it is for Christmas probably, or at January at my birthday. But I've got to get some ideas. I'm thinking of buying an upright digital piano (like CLP-130), not a keyboard or stage-piano (So, not the P-x0 series).
I really want a digital piano to play the piano, with heavy touch, really good to learn to play the piano, I'm not interested in something easy to play, nor with a lot of lame sounds.

I am divided between Roland HP-102 (1200€*) and Yamaha CLP-230 (1500€*).
     - I tried to see some images of Roland HP-102 at Roland's website, but there is nothing concerning this model. It skips from HP-101 to HP-103. I don't know if the back side of the cabinet is open like HP-101 or closed like HP-103. Though, it might be better than HP-101. And plus, my mom has been seduced to buy (HP-102) it from the good seller who owned the store in which I played HP-101. The seller had another store in Lisbon, and told us to go there.
     - This one is a Yamaha. I've never played in one, but people say Yamaha is better than Roland, and that it has a heavier touch. I think the heavier the better. And I think in this one it is possible to choose the sensibility of the keys (not the weight) which would help considerably (Can any of you tell me if this is true? If it is, is it "SP/HP Control"?). Anyway, I think this has not a finish in black, which I would love.

Am I divided at the wrong pianos? What do you guys think? Which of the brands do you think has a heavier touch? Which of the brands in this case do you think is better?

I don't know, may be I'm wrong in the ones I'm confused at. Please help.

Thank you in advance,
         OceanSoul.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*The prices shown are the prices of some stores in Portugal.

[preludium]

I don't know if the back side of the cabinet is open like HP-101 or closed like HP-103. Though, it might be better than HP-101.

Well, if I enter "roland hp 102" into the google search bar the first link I get points to a page with an image. If you go to images.google.com then you find pics without end. As far as the first link on the "regular" site tells, the only difference I see to the 101 is the closed back and a midi sequencer. I bought the 101, not to save money, but because I wanted something without any gadgets, that would only distract me from practicing.

I had tried several Yamahas, Rolands, and Kawais (meanwhile I've forgotten all these freaky model names), but I didn't find such big differences in the keyboard action. That was the most important thing to me. A digital was the only choice I had, again, not for the money, but I can practice only late at night, sometimes I only stop at 3am. The main problem I have when playing on my teacher's Yamaha upright is not the weight of the keys, even though the digital feels a bit lighter, but

- The surface of the keys
The keys on the upright are very sticky, so that you cannot easily glide between the black keys and back. Since the keys on both instruments are made of plastic this is just a coincidence and could also be the other way around. So there is nothing that would favor either piano.

- The lever stroke
On the Roland I have to press the keys deeper to get a sound. I suppose this is a matter of how the acoustic was set up by the technican and could also be the other way around. Again, nothing that would favor one instrument over the other.

- The volume
During the first lesson I was really shocked by the noise that came out of the upright. It's in a small room without much furniture, so this may have added to the effect. Compared to the Roland there is no way to play pianissimo on the acoustic. Now I practice with more volume on the Roland, which makes things a bit more alike. You can change the sensitivity of the keys on the digital, but it forgets all settings when it is switched off. So it's just a matter of time when you give up using these options. The sensitivity of the digital is a lot more agreable to me, so this is a clear minus for the upright.

Okay, I hope I could add something to your confusion. 

[oceansoul]

LOL!

Hello, preludium. Thank you so much for your reply.
I will try both Roland and Yamaha's models, and see which fits me better.
And I think it is a Roland HP-103 the one the lady seduced my mother to buy, after all. Do you think it is better than CLP-230?
Well, that thing about having to press the keys deeper to get a sound and the keys being of plastic might not be good, in fact. Anyway, this is what I can buy, and what is better for me, since I also play at night, not because I have to, but because I love to. 

What do you guys think is better after all, Roland or Yamaha?

Thank you all in advance.

[preludium]

It depends on what you mean by "better". The best one for me was the instrument with the smallest number of bells and whistles and keys with a good weight. If you look at the price signs you will talk yourself into believing that one instrument is way better, because it costs 1000 euro more than another one. Remember that the manufacturers can make money only if they build large numbers of the same stuff, so you won't find a different keyboard in each model. They basically change the software and the front panel to increase the number of models. Well, I heard some differences in the way the string resonances are simulated, so they really work on the software and use it only for the more expensive instruments in order to justify the price. This is okay, since software development is very expensive, but the question is whether you really think you need it.

In the end I was confused with all the instruments and just picked one. It could have been a Yamaha, but now it's a Roland. Don't ask me why.

[oceansoul]

Greetings!
I've played in so many pianos! May be you guys know how I'm feeling. I played in lovely Petrofs, in a lot of Yamahas, including the C2 which I loved!, Suzuki, Hyundai and Roland. I loved it so much. -g-
And the guy made us such good prices, that we are, probably, going to buy a Yamaha CLP-240!! 240! It's waaay better than the 230, especially on the lower notes. It really gives good response, it is fantastic. The sound is practically equal to the C2, the touch also, it has a lot of -good- voices, there are two types of grand pianos, and also there's so much to set... I loved it. I will be able to have it with the bench around 1750€.

Thanks for your feedback, preludium!

What do you guys think? Thanks for your help!