# good digital piano for beginner? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 22, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-digital-piano-for-beginner/533359 "2010-03-22T17:17:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-digital-piano-for-beginner/533359/1 "2010-03-22T17:17:08Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Loisseau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2bfe46/32.png) [@Loisseau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loisseau)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-digital-piano-for-beginner/533359/2 "2010-03-23T15:24:54Z")
[Yamaha digital piano](http://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/CDA/ContentDetail/ModelSeriesDetail.html?CNTID=5015193) ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-digital-piano-for-beginner/533359/3 "2010-03-23T18:13:39Z")
I cannot, in good conscience, _really_ recommend anything other than an acoustic piano for a beginner, but I love my [Kurzweil PC88](http://www.sonicstate.com/synth/kurzpc88.cfm) (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. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Mood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@Blue\_Mood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Mood)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-digital-piano-for-beginner/533359/4 "2010-03-24T09:19:18Z")
I’ve had this [Technics](http://66.102.9.132/search?q=cache:rKO4TFTggl8J:www.arlingtonheights.org/forum_posts.asp%3FTID%3D90266+technics+digital+piano+sx-pc25&cd=7&hl=en&ct=clnk) 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. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-digital-piano-for-beginner/533359/5 "2010-03-24T10:00:40Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > I cannot, in good conscience, _really_ recommend anything other than an acoustic piano for a beginner, but I love my [Kurzweil PC88](http://www.sonicstate.com/synth/kurzpc88.cfm) (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 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. ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-digital-piano-for-beginner/533359/6 "2010-03-24T10:56:04Z")
I am very, very satisfied with my [Korg sp-250](http://www.korg.com/product.aspx?&pd=134). 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.) ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-digital-piano-for-beginner/533359/7 "2010-03-24T10:56:55Z")
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.