# help me choosing a cheap keyboard (300-350 dollars)



## norman bates

My mother has alway had the dream to play the piano, but she never had the opportunity to do it. Now she has the deside to try it, but she doesn't want to spend a lot for it. Like I've said, the budget is limited. She asked me for a suggestion but I'm very ignorant about digital pianos, so I don't know what I should look for. Weighted keys? 88 keys? The possibility to use it with a pc? And what about lighted keys, considering she's a beginner, she doesn't know how to read music and maybe that could help?

Any suggestion is welcome.


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## starthrower

A cheap keyboard won't give you that genuine piano feel but they are fun to play around with. I bought my wife a Yamaha for 250 dollars. Comes with two built in speakers, rhythm tracks, and numerous pre-programned sounds. Check some online music stores like Sweetwater. They are a great company.


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## norman bates

yes, I'm seeing that for that range of price there will necessarily be a lot of compromises in a way or another.


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## norman bates

since my mother insisted than she wanted 88 weighted keys with a realistic piano feel (and after I saw that reviewers tend to recommend that too), I've realized that under 300 there's nothing like that, and I was looking in the under 500 category. There are two models I think are very interesting: one is the Roland FP-10, which apparently, according to basically every review I've seen has the absolute best action in for that price point by far (it's compared to digital pianos that cost even four times that price) and it also has bluetooth which is a nice addiction (altough I've sadly discovered that it's not recommended for wireless headphones because of high latency).
The other one is the Casio s-350, that has still a decent action but it has a lot of other instruments and possibilities for accompaniments. I'm not really sure what could be the best choice, but I've realized that a lot of people seems to use a tablet with these keyboards. How much the tablet is mandatory? It certainly looks more practical than a full desktop pc, I'm not sure if a cheap tablet would be ok for it...


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## tdc

If you look through similar past threads one recurring theme is that for cheap keyboards Yamaha is better than Casio. This aligns with my personal experience, I started with a cheap Casio that was trashed and no longer working after a couple of years, and moved up to a Yamaha that I've been using for the past 4 years or so and it is still holding up fine.


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## norman bates

tdc said:


> If you look through similar past threads one recurring theme is that for cheap keyboards Yamaha is better than Casio. This aligns with my personal experience, I started with a cheap Casio that was trashed and no longer working after a couple of years, and moved up to a Yamaha that I've been using for the past 4 years or so and it is still holding up fine.


I was actually considering also another Casio, and I was thinking to buy it, the px-s1000, which has been lauded by many reviews but it seems there are a lot of discussions about the uneven action with the black keys being much lighter than the white keys. The reviewer of Pianoforever basically says that it's terrible for someone aiming at developing a good technique, and a lot of other people minimizing the problem... I don't really know what to think, even considering my ignorance.


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## Guest

I recommend a Yamaha P71. It has 88 weighted keys, and Amazon has a "bundle" with the keyboard, a stand, and a padded stool for $473. As others have said, these keyboards, despite being weighted, don't have the feel and sound of a real piano, and especially what passes for a pedal! Still, it will provide a good experience to see if she takes to the piano. One of my students has one, and the sound is quite good through a decent pair of headphones. For $342, Amazon offers a 76 key PSR-EW300 SA and stand. I don't think the keys are weighted, though. Casio is generally less expensive, but you get what you pay for. It's also false economy to get as cheap as possible, then have to replace it sooner than later.

Since she can't read music, I'd recommend _Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Course: Lesson Book, Level One_. It assumes absolutely no musical knowledge and takes beginners through the process one step at a time.


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## norman bates

Fazioli said:


> I recommend a Yamaha P71. It has 88 weighted keys, and Amazon has a "bundle" with the keyboard, a stand, and a padded stool for $473. As others have said, these keyboards, despite being weighted, don't have the feel and sound of a real piano, and especially what passes for a pedal! Still, it will provide a good experience to see if she takes to the piano. One of my students has one, and the sound is quite good through a decent pair of headphones. For $342, Amazon offers a 76 key PSR-EW300 SA and stand. I don't think the keys are weighted, though. Casio is generally less expensive, but you get what you pay for. It's also false economy to get as cheap as possible, then have to replace it sooner than later.
> 
> Since she can't read music, I'd recommend _Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Course: Lesson Book, Level One_. It assumes absolutely no musical knowledge and takes beginners through the process one step at a time.


Thank you very much, I had considered that Yamaha model but I already chosen a Roland FP-10 (I bought it for 300 second hand, used only for few months). It seems it has by far the best action in the under 500 category (it actually has the same action of Roland FP 60 that is an instrument that goes for 1300-1400 dollars for what I've seen), with graded action with triple sensor and escapament and also one of the best sound, at least according the the reviews I've seen, but listening to it compared to other instruments I liked it. It also has bluetooth which seems to be a good addiction. For what I've seen the technology is improving very fast in the last few years with these instruments. I was even considering a second hand Dexibell Vivo p7 for 650 that was too much for her. Too bad, because that seems to be one of the absolute best digital pianos on the market and a way superior instrument.

In any case thank you, also for the recommendation of that book. And also for the laugh, don't get me wrong, I appreciated your comment, I just laughed because I though that seeing "Fazioli" in a thread about a super cheap piano was quite funny.


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## Guest

Hah, well, I don't own a Fazioli, it's just a dream. I do have a nice Steinway 7' grand, which I bought used many years ago.

I hope your mother enjoys her piano. I've never played a Roland, but I understand they have a good reputation.


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## norman bates

Fazioli said:


> Hah, well, I don't own a Fazioli, it's just a dream. I do have a nice Steinway 7' grand, which I bought used many years ago.


I suspect your instrument is already the dream of a lot of musicians


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