So here is the deal. I have never had piano lessons, but I did play Clarinet in band from 5th through 11th grade, so I have a little musical background. I can play the most basic of songs on the piano, but other than that my experience is nil.
I really want to learn to play and have a wide range of interests as far as music goes (Classical, Pop, Jazz, etc)
Here is the situation:

1) I do not have a specific space I can dedicate to keeping my piano, so I need something I can easily store in a closet or under a bed when it is not in use.
2) As long as the feel is close to that of a real piano and the sound is pleasant, I'm happy. From my understanding, nearly everything over $500 with 88 weighted keys fit this.
3) I want t spend as little as possible while getting the most bang for my buck. I've set a budget of $1500, but I'd be very happy if I spent less than $1000. I'm hoping my negotiating skills can get me a good discount.
4) I am a tech guy and I like to play. I imagine I will most likely plug it into my computer and do some recording here and there and play around with any additional features my DP might have.

So far, the only models that have REALLY stood out are the yamaha P-140 and P-155, but I haven't had a chance to look at the details of everything in my price range yet.

On a side note, there is a local piano store going out of business that claims to be liquidating their stock:

http://www.critchetts.com/

up to 70% off?? when I called in, they said they had a number of Yamaha and Roland DPs, however the person I spoke to had never heard of a Yamaha P-155 or P-140 . . .
With this in mind, are there any models in particular that I should look for that retail around $2000, but with a 50-70% discount would end up within my budget that I should ask them about?

Remember, I am a beginner and I probably will not be able to generate a preference between quality DPs.

Thanks

Looks like you've done your home work. The P155 is right at your price point and I think the dest deal for "about $1K". But look for deals, coupon discounts can take the price down by up to 20%. If nothing else the salemen at Guitar Centers will routinely offer discounts between 10 and 15% if they think that is what is required to close a sale. Don't pay full price for a DP.

The P140 was replaced by the P155 and is discontinued. They are not easy to find but should sell at a steep discount

Not the most knowledgeable salesman if he has never hear of one of the most common digital pianos on the market. But you did say "going out of buisness." Easy to understand why.

The "going out of business scam" is really common. Some piano shops have been going out of business for many years. The way to check if it is real is to ask a real estate broker if the building is up for lease.

Yamaha makes a line of digital pianos that are sold exclusivly through protected piano dealerships. You can google Yamaha Clavinova. Any modered stil in production Clavinova such as the CLP320 will be as good or better then the P155. These are made to look like acoustic console pianos. If you can get any non-discontinued modela of CLP for a P155 price you'd be getting a good deal. But I doubt they'd sell so low and you don't want one of the older models

Thanks.
I've got a quote for a P-155 for $915 I'm very tempted to just order it right now, but I want to shop just a little more before I go forward.

P155 for $915? that's a great deal. i had to pay a little more to get it, even though they include a Senn. HD202 headphones for free (which is very good).

i find P155 a very good DP and it sounds even richer and smoother than my old PF500, which is because of new piano samples and 4-level dynamic sampling i guess. i'm really happy about it so far.

Yes, I too was almost set to get the p-155, I was happy with it when I played it in the store. Much more so than the p-85

If you can hold off for a while you can get something much better for your money - that has been true of any product based on silicon for quite a while now. But with the advent of embedded Linux, all sorts of uP intensive things are becoming almost trivially easy to develop.

The DP industry has been able to make a decent keyboard for years now, but when it comes to the sounds they are finally starting to see the light (V-Piano and hopefully others soon - not that I would recommend the V-Piano at this point).

Even the lightest digital piano
cannot be stored away after each
use. It is just too impractical,
and after a few times doing it,
you'll see that it just won't
do. An 88-key digital piano
is almost 5' long, and even
the lightest ones have some
heft to them, especially if
the keys are weighted (weighted
keys have actual lead or copper
weights under them, and all
that metal is heavy).
Manhandling something like
that under the bed each night
is going to quickly become
unfeasible.

If space is currently a
problem, get a 61-key
portable keyboard. These
are very light and can be
plopped down anywhere and played
and then shoved under the bed
when not in use--and they
are cool. You can learn
piano perfectly well on one.
People take several yrs. of
classical lessons using 61-key
unweighted portables with
no real problem. They adjust
to the acoustic piano in their
teacher's studio without much
trouble.

If you get a 61-key portable,
make sure it comes with the
factory adaptor included in
the box, because some don't, and
finding an adaptor with a jack
that fits can be almost impossible.
If they try to throw in a
universal adaptor, have then
open everything up right there
and prove it works, because
chances are the adaptor
jack won't fit the keyboard.

I won't necessarily store it every night, and I'm a big guy, moving a digital piano won't be an issue.
I just want to be able to put it away like I can with my guitar and guitar stand when we have company over or just want to tidy up a bit. The main point is, I cannot dedicate a 3x5' space in any one location in my place 100% of the time. I need to be able to easily store it when the occasion arises. At any rate, I was more or less, hinting on the fact that I cannot use an acoustic piano at this point.

The wife wants to wait until we have to pay taxes before we buy one, so I probably will have to wait at least a few months.

By the way, the $915 deal included headphones ;-)

Sounds like you've found a great deal on a P-155, I'd go with it if I were you. I just ordered my first digital piano (also a P-155) and I paid $1,350 for mine (was a package deal which included furniture stand, bench, headphones, sustain pedal, USB thumb drive, dust cover etc.), mine won't be here until Tuesday though so I haven't had a chance to give it a go yet, but the keyboard by itself where I bought it from was $1,200. So it sounds like you've found a great deal.

As for storing it, you'll probably want to get a padded gig bag or some kind of case to stick it in when you put it away, I would anyways, keep stuff from banging it up and keep the dust off of it etc.