UK Piano Page Piano Forum

HI,
I am a newbie and I am seeking some advices for my very first digital piano.
I am 50 y/o and I always wanted to give it a try to learn and play this beautiful instrument everyone love.
So I search and found no answer to my question:
I am looking at buying one digital piano among these four model/brands I have found for sale on CL, they are approximately all around the same asking price, I just don t know which one to chose, because I cannot test the piano myself since I don t play yet. and I don t know anybody who could come with me to test it for me. So based only on your advice if you ave to chose one of these four :

Roland HP-2 , Yamaha Clavinova CLP-370M, Kawai CN 25R or Yamaha Clavinova CLP-440.
thanks a lot.

Dadopic

Hi
I note that there's been very little activity on this digital forum recently which is a pity. I'm not a regular visitor either, but I'll have a crack at answering your question.

Firstly, be careful (very careful) on purchasing a keyboard instrument from CL or indeed from any commercial website unless you can meet with the seller, check out the instrument visually, and most importantly try the keyboard to see if it suits you, as there are differences between the models you list. You may love the touch of one, and hate the other, so buying 'blind' without trying a keyboard is a definite no-no!
You say you are a newbie, so here are some tips I recommend that you take careful note of.
i) Go round as many music stores as possible and try as many different makes and models as you can, new and used. This will give you an appreciation of the differences between them. Note the firmness (or otherwise) of the keys, even before the keyboard is powered-on. Is there a clunking sound when depressing the keys with medium force? Some are pretty noisy and some folks just cannot live with that distracting sound.
ii) Do you really need all the sounds (voices) that many keyboards have?
iii) Is the volume (i.e amplification) sufficient for the size of room you will use the instrument in? Some keyboards have a distorted sound when the volume is turned up too high.
iv) Do you need a keyboard that you can connect to the internet (believe the Yamaha CLP-370 in your list is the only one that does).
v) Do you need a keyboard to which you can connect USB flash memory (ref the Yamaha CLP 440).
vi) As a general guide (there are few exceptions) buy the most recent keyboard you can.
vii) Limit your choice to Yamaha, Roland, Kawai and Casio - some of the new keyboards from the latter are exceptionally good, and great value for money.
viii) If there is a certain make and model that eventually takes your fancy, don't listen to any salesperson that proposes something else because they don't stock that particular make. 'Bad-mouthing' well-known makes because they are not stocked is an unfortunate, all too common practice amongst many dealers, (or often by saleperson's too eager to make a commission on a model readily held in stock.
The Roland HP-2 model you quote is vague, as there were quite a number of differences in the Roland HP 200 series of keyboards.
I'll be checking out this forum a little more frequently, so come back with any additional queries.
Please keep us advised on your progress.