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I appreciate that this kind of question gets asked over and over, I've read all the posts on this forum about first purchases but I still have some questions so I hope someone can help!

I don't play piano, I know a couple of chords and that's about it. I intend trying to teach myself and maybe get lessons later if I get on OK.

I'm looking to buy a cheap digital portable piano, we don't have room for anything bigger. Since I don't know how I'll get on with keys I'm looking to keep the price down as far as possible while still getting a decent usable instrument.

I've narrowed the choice down to three.

M-Audio 61es midi controller. It's just over £100 has 61 semi weighted keys but no built in sounds, I'd be tied to my computer if I went for this option. It's supposed to be a decent keyboard though.

A cheapish model from Yamaha or Casio with built in sounds and teaching software. Around £200 or so. I could play it anywhere but most of them at this price point have unweighted keyboards.

M-Audio ProKeys 88. A stage piano with 14 good quality sounds a fully weighted 88 key hammer action keyboard. It's more expensive than I wanted to pay but reviews suggest it's an excellent pro quality keyboard with a very realistic action and very cheap for the quality. Around £335

So what should my priorities be as a complete beginner? I suppose what I'm asking is how important is a realistic action when your first start playing? If that's the most important aspect I'll probably try and stretch to the stage piano, if the teaching facilities of the Yamahas/Casios would be more helpful at the moment I'll probably go for one of them.

Thanks for any advice!

Hi,

With your expressed concern of key weight, it seems like you're ultimately planning to make a transition to a real piano some time down the line rather than be an electric keyboardist. If this is your situation, the worst thing you can do is start practicing on a non-weighted keyboard. There is quite a long customer review about this particular issue at epinions you can read here.

http://www1.epinions.com/review/Yamaha_ ... 8848354948

Non-weighted and semi-weighted digital pianos will not give you the finger strength training you'll need to play on a hammer action piano; the real keys will feel so starkly heavy you're going to think there's something wrong with them. I sympathize with your limited budget. Proper hammer action, though, is not optional as far my feelings go, and I strongly advise at least being this sure feature is present.

Try getting these other features as well.
- Half/partial pedaling
- 32+ note polyphony
- Good resonance
- Realistic pedal action
- Una corda pedal port

Good luck!

Thanks Cothse! I think that's the direction I was leaning anyway. That pretty much means the M-Audio stage piano, I don't know of another keyboard with a fully weighted piano action anywhere near my price range.