Digital Pianos

[alxths]

Hi everyone,
I'm a guitar player right now, but have been thinking about getting into piano for quite awhile. So now that I've finally mustered up a bit of money I'm looking into buying a digital piano. The main allures of a digital piano being the price, volume control and having the sounds of a variety of different pianos inbuilt.
I'm just wondering if anyone here knows enough about these things to give me some recommendations on which brands to look at and any particular things to look for when choosing a piano...
I do have one direct question which is, how significant are those three pedals that pianos have? Some digital ones come with them and some don't... I'm not really sure if its worth the extra money to have them..
Thanks.

[kilimanjaro]

Hi alxths,

I have just been learning the piano for 6 months and bought a Suzuki Keyman digital piano about 4 months or so ago.  It is cheap, portable, probably the lightest one on the market, and I am pleased with it.  I bought it on ebay brand new and much much cheaper than retail.  NEVER buy a digital piano at the retail price (or for that matter, anything at retail value)!

Anyway, as far as the pedals go, mine came with a sustain pedal which I am not using as yet.  My piano instructor told me that the sustain pedal is really the only one that you need.  And if you are a beginner, the pedal won't make any difference for a while because you will want to learn sight reading, rhythm, tones, chords, scales etc... first, which takes a lot of effort and time.  The sustain pedal just makes a sound last somewhat longer.

If you are a beginner, I would suggest buying a digital piano that does not cost more than $1000 (meaning up to $2000 retail)!  Buying from ebay from a seller with excellent and detailed history is very safe.  I have found a Casio PS-20 for $700 too including shipping + a few bonus accessories (it costs something like $1400 retail)!

I can e-mail you a number of websites and links to digital piano deals that I found when I was researching everything.  Let me know if you are interested - perhaps you should choose a model first.  Also remember that you might want a bench and stand (I haven't bought those yet), which are expensive if you go for looks and sturdiness.  Initially, you can create your own bench and stand in the house through a system of chairs/mattresses/tables, but it is not very good for long-term technique development!!  Unfortunately, learning piano and buying equipment is not for the low-income for sure.

[Chiyo]

I rec Yamaha P-120. I think Yamaha has the best touch ever.

I'm also looking for digital pianos and have been researching for a while. Now I'm pretty determined to get one (although I wanted P-250). Most internet sites have it around $1100, although you have to buy stand and bench separate.

I tried it out at my local music store, and it was pretty good. I also tried out Yamaha Clavinova CLP-170, and it was amazing! If I had money, I would've got it ($4000).

Anyways..you can look at some review at

https://www.harmony-central.com/Synth/Data/Yamaha/

Models to consider :

CLP series
P-80
P-90
P-120

[alxths]

Thanks for your replies killmanjaro and chiyo. I'd definately be interested in those sites that you've found killmanjaro, my e-mail is alextheus@rogers.com... I did a quick search on ebay and found a decent selection of digital pianos.. but I'm hesitant to buy a $1000 dollar item when I have no way of beign sure of its condition... More so, I live in Canada so I may have to pay duties on it.. Not too sure about that though.
Thanks for that link chiyo, they have reviews there for almost any product that I've considered so far; and hearing the opinions of experienced musicians is EXTREMELY helpful to a piano-illiterate like myself  

[benthepianoboy]

I would recommend a Technics p-50.