Digital piano advice please circa £400 / $700

[wilco1uk]

Hi

I am buying a digital piano as a christmas present for my better half. She is a grade 8 pianist, but has not played in over 10 years for various reasons, but has always loved playing. We live in quite a small house and are on a limited budget so she understands that something like her old beckstein baby grand is not practical.

 

The key criteria is:

Good action

Good piano sound.

Moveable / stowable so it can be put under the spare bed when not in use.

 

So far we have looked at:

Casio CDP 100 (£300)- very good action but low volume (it was in a very large showroom, so may sound louder in a small room).

Roland - (£800) best action, but was too expensive.

Yamaha - DGX620 (£500) - OK action, good volume, piano quality sound OK, lots of extras that are not required. I understand that the P70 (£450) is the same without all the extras.

 

It seems that if we are going to stay in budget we will have to look at one of the following:

 

Casio CDP100, PX110, PX310, Px400 or PX500 (all going on ebay for £300 - £450) - What is the difference between the PX3, 4 and 5 series?

or Yamaha P70 or possibly 2nd hand p80, p90 or p120.

 

What would people go for - I am seeing lots of favourable things being said about the Casio PX310 and 400, but am not sure whether people would advise the newer 310 over the older (but higher in the range) 400. Where does the CDP100 fit into this range.

 

Please help as this is terribly confusing and I want to surprise her at Christmas with a Piano that she will enjoy playing and will last her a couple of years until we move to a bigger house.

 

Thank you.

[Jazzwee]

Originally posted by wilco1uk:

Hi

I am buying a digital piano as a christmas present for my better half. She is a grade 8 pianist, but has not played in over 10 years for various reasons, but has always loved playing. We live in quite a small house and are on a limited budget so she understands that something like her old beckstein baby grand is not practical.

 

The key criteria is:

Good action

Good piano sound.

Moveable / stowable so it can be put under the spare bed when not in use.

 

So far we have looked at:

Casio CDP 100 (£300)- very good action but low volume (it was in a very large showroom, so may sound louder in a small room).

Roland - (£800) best action, but was too expensive.

Yamaha - DGX620 (£500) - OK action, good volume, piano quality sound OK, lots of extras that are not required. I understand that the P70 (£450) is the same without all the extras.

 

It seems that if we are going to stay in budget we will have to look at one of the following:

 

Casio CDP100, PX110, PX310, Px400 or PX500 (all going on ebay for £300 - £450) - What is the difference between the PX3, 4 and 5 series?

or Yamaha P70 or possibly 2nd hand p80, p90 or p120.

 

What would people go for - I am seeing lots of favourable things being said about the Casio PX310 and 400, but am not sure whether people would advise the newer 310 over the older (but higher in the range) 400. Where does the CDP100 fit into this range.

 

Please help as this is terribly confusing and I want to surprise her at Christmas with a Piano that she will enjoy playing and will last her a couple of years until we move to a bigger house.

 

Thank you.

In my mind, the main difference between the Casio CDP100 and other PX models has to do with bells and whistles (additional sounds, etc). The CDP100 is meat and potatoes piano and rhodes sound. So for what you intend to play, I would say the other stuff is unnecessary.

 

I agree that the Casio CDP100 has good key action feel, probably better than the YPG (which is lighter). But the P70 is going to be better than the YPG on the action side. The P70 and YPG are a bit more expensive than the CDP100 so on a budget, I'd stick with the CDP100 and you'll have made a good value purchase. I do think that the quality of the instrument is reflected in the price. The YPG and P70 will have a better sounding piano (key action aside).

 

I own the CDP100 and do think that for the price it is a good deal. (we paid a lot less for it though -- current US prices are in the $400+ range.)

[SilverDragonSoun]

Do you have a chance to take her and play the different models? See if you can shre this oppurtunity together for bonding and picking out what works best for both of you.

[Allisons Dad]

Good point about having her play different models to pick the best! This may spoil the suprise, but then again picture her sitting down to play on Christmas morning only to say "uhmm, it looks nice but I don't like ...".

 

I played the YPG a few weeks ago expecting to like it, but the clunky key action seemed really bad. I couldn't stand the noisy keys, they actually made a slapping sound. Just one example of a quirk that bothered me but someone else might overlook.

[delirium]

go with yamaha P70. Good sound good action, good lookig reliability and brand name. price just right.

Besides yamaha will be better looking under the christmass tree then e.g. casio...your wife doesn't want a toy, does she? And yamaha is a keeper.

[ProfD]

Originally posted by Allisons Dad:

Good point about having her play different models to pick the best! This may spoil the suprise, but then again picture her sitting down to play on Christmas morning only to say "uhmm, it looks nice but I don't like ...".

I don't wanna picture that. Reflects the over-commercialization of X-mas.

 

What happened to it is the thought that counts?

 

She should be fine with the Casio or Yamaha. Both are decent DPs and meet the requirements.

 

If it does not work out for whatever reason, you still have a receipt.

 

Good luck and welcome to the forum.