I found this ad on Craigslist in Chicago today. I've never heard of a Roll Out Keyboard and wondered how it works. Has anyone here ever used one? Are they easy to use? Is there sound?

C

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/msg/3504369003.html

Should really be in the Digital Forum.
But yes, seen and played them. Really
no more than toy but I like toys.

You can also see it in action on You Tube:

You can get one with far fewer features and far poorer sound that's much more difficult to play. I lost interest in mine after about 10 minutes. (And I, too, like toys.)

keep your $30 and buy some sheet music to play on a real piano

The problem is that the black keys are in the same plane as the whites, and the keys don't go down when you press them. So, it's kinda like those cardboard keyboard pictures we had ages ago when we were kids, only this one makes sound. But the finger motion and sensory feedback is so different from a real keyboard that it could be counterproductive to practice on it.

I played one once a long time ago. They're junk.

A friend of mine who is a professional opera singer brought one to Germany with him. He used it to realize accompaniment in a hotel room when he could not get better practice space.

It fit into his luggage easily and gave him pitches in a pinch, but nothing more.

"Pitches in a pinch" - I like that.