Folks,
I’m considering getting back into playing the piano - dropped it when I was a kid, but I’d like to take it back up. I’m not sure I’ll be doing it yet - but out of curiosity, could anyone recommend a good digital piano for under $1000? For that matter, does anyone know of a website that does good, reliable piano reviews?
I cannot, in good conscience, really recommend anything other than an acoustic piano for a beginner, but I love my Kurzweil PC88 (full-size weighted keys, etc.). I’ve had it for probably 10 years now. I don’t think they’re sold new anymore, but you should definitely be able to find a used one for under $1000.
Can’t help with the online reviews; sorry.
I’ve had this Technics for nearly ten years and I’m still happy with it. There’s no fancy recording and just a few sounds, but it is hard-wearing with a real feel (in heavy mode) and sound. And if you look around you should be able to get a second-hand one for half of your budget.
I think it depends. Do you really want to be a pianist, or a keyboarder? Are you looking for at playing contemporary or “classical”? For the former, a keyboard is fine, and probably better. For the latter, though, a real piano is definitely best.
As for the actual question in the OP: I can’t really help you, because I’ve really only used the cheaper portables ($300 range) and much more expensive stage pianos ($1500+ range). Everything I wanted to recommend is apparently not in your stated price range.
The only thing I can say is that I prefer the sound of Yamahas. The built-in instruments sound great, and the actual piano sound actually sounds like a piano, unlike the Casios and Rolands I’ve used.
I am very, very satisfied with my Korg sp-250. It is relatively cheap (around USD 700) and the primary piano sound is pretty good. It has weighted keys that fell kinda sorta like a real piano. It is also a lot less bulky than most other digital pianos.
I bought mine a year ago and I spent a lot of time trying out 10-15 different ones in the price range up to around USD 1200. I even brought a friend who is a professional classical pianist, and he preferred the Korg over most of the others. It was easily one of the best (and the money I saved from buying the Korg rather than a more expensive model went into a set of really nice headphones.)
My Iphone has a really cool application for a digital piano. It really works!
And my husbands Roland also feels like a nice piano.
Also, nowadays many people get rid of their acoustic pianos, so try goodwill or craigslist. At my own Goodwill, there are currently at least 5 beautiful antique pianos. They just don’t fit in the modern home, stylewise, while it used to be that every upper middle class home had one.