• Roland Digital Piano Reviews CleverJoe approved Roland digital pianos.
• Yamaha Digital Piano Reviews CleverJoe approved Yamaha digital pianos.
• Korg Digital Piano Reviews CleverJoe approved Korg digital pianos.

Korg SP-300 Stage Piano
The SP-300 Digital Piano is the perfect answer for any pianist looking for rich piano sounds and the convenience of a lightweight, portable instrument. With a choice of internal speakers or not, the SP-300 piano can fit the needs of any practicing or performance situation. Whether you're a professional musician, a student or simply playing for pleasure, the realism and flexibility of these instruments are sure to impress.
CleverJoe review and product info

Roland RD-700SX Digital Piano
Driven by Roland's most powerful sound engine, the RD-700SX enables the ultimate in sound and performance with two world-class grand piano waveforms at its core and featuring 128-voice polyphonic performance, a Progressive Hammer-Action keyboard, and an expanded soundset including brilliant electric pianos, authentic virtual tonewheel organs, and more.Progressive Hammer-Action KeyboardThe RD-700SX is equipped with Roland's top-of-the-line Progressive Hammer-Action Keyboard, which provides heavy-to-light response as you climb from low to high octaves, just like a real piano.

Kurzweil K2600 Keyboard
The leader in keyboard workstations! Only Kurzweil could top the K2500, and this is it. 76-note semi-weighted keyboard with velocity and aftertouch. 48-voice polyphony. Four oscillators per voice. 12MB of phenomenal sounds, expandable to 44MB. 438 superb factory programs, including Kurzweil's award winning Stereo Grand Piano, KB3 tone-wheel organ models, and a 24-band vocoder model.

Kawai MP9500 Stage Piano
This is it, ladies and gentlemen. An outstanding instrument, this piano arguably has the finest piano hammer action in it's price range.
CleverJoe classic review and product info

Kawai ESX Digital Stage Piano
Portable piano, 88 weighted keys provide a piano touch shockingly close to a real grand. Three thumbs up.
CleverJoe classic review and product info

Yamaha YPP200 Digital Piano
A great first-time piano, an inexpensive MIDI controller, and a perfect digital piano for teaching labs and churches. Stereo-sampled piano, 88 full-size keys with touch response. Note: this is NOT a fully weighted piano hammer action keyboard, but it does respond to your touch - ie: how hard or light you play the keys).
Scratch & Dent Digital Piano Sale Check for the Yamaha YDP200 digital piano or other deals.

YAMAHA # S80 KEYBOARD
Ideal 88-key piano-action synthesizer and MIDI controller. 256 preset sounds, including new stereo-sampled pianos, strings, brass, and choirs, plus 128 locations for user-programmed sounds. Huge 20MB ROM, including sounds from Yamaha's EX series synths. 64-note polyphony, 16-part multi-timbrel. 64 multimode resonant filters for creating powerful analog synth tones. Input for external mic which can be processed by onboard effects. 19 performance memories and 4-zone master keyboard layouts. SmartMedia card slot for storage of user programs, performances, and other settings, as well as loading, chaining, and playing Standard MIDI Files. 2 PLG Modular Synthesis Plug-In Expansion board slots for adding new sounds and increasing polyphony. Includes CD-ROM with sequencer and editor/librarian software.
Scratch & Dent Digital Piano Sale Check for the Yamaha S80 keyboard or other deals.

Yamaha YDP-121 88-Key Piano
Excellent choice for beginning or advancing piano students. A great looking and sounding 88 key weighted hammer action piano.
CleverJoe classic review and product info

 
Tips on buying a new (or second hand) keyboard or digital piano:

• Piano Action:
  At the very least, a touch sensitive keyboard is really a must have, even for beginners. You will also want to check out the piano action of the keyboard, that is, how the keys respond when played. There are some very nice digital pianos available today with excellent, fully weighted piano hammer action. Every keyboard is built a bit differently, so it helps of you can try different instruments before plunking down your hard earned dough.

• Piano and Instrument Sounds:
  Obviously, the quality of the sound of the keyboard is very important. Many digital pianos offer other instrument sounds in addition to piano. While this can add great value to your instrument, don't base your decision on this factor alone. If you plan on playing mostly solo piano, the 'cool factor' of having a zillion sounds at your fingertips will wear off quickly.
• Portability:
  Do you need something portable enough to take to gigs, or will your piano be staying mostly at home?
• Sampling, Midi, Music Software
  Virtually every newer digital piano supports MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) which means you can connect to a sound module for more instrument sounds, or to your computer for using the plethora of music software available. If this is something that piques your interest, do a bit of research and read a book or two about MIDI and music software. A little bit of knowledge can go a long way.
• Onboard Speakers
  If you're looking for an all-in-one digital piano with speakers built in, make sure the speakers sound good! If you can't try the instrument out before buying, read up on piano reviews and snoop out the scoop. A more expensive piano does not always mean it's better quality, but at the same time if a piano only costs a couple hundred bucks, it's probably not going to have million dollar speakers built into it (a bit of a no-brainer but sometimes a gentle reminder helps).
• How much $ to invest?
  As the old adage goes, you usually get what you pay for, and investing a bit of extra cash into a good quality instrument will always pay itself back tenfold. This is especially true for beginners. Music teachers everywhere can tell the story about the parent who buys a cheap keyboard for their child to learn on, planning to invest in a better quality instrument if the child improves and continues to show an interest. Unfortunately most people, especially kids, will have a difficult time learning to play music on a poor quality instrument, and end up quitting before they give themselves a chance. A good quality instrument gives the student a decent chance at succeeding. This doesn't mean you need to buy top-of-the-line gear, but it might mean saving an extra few pennies or renting a digital or acoustic piano until you're ready to make the investment.

As always, it's worth checking out eBay's Digital Piano listings.

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