Hi, dear DP-experts! I'm new to this page and seek your advise, as I am just about to purchase a digital piano for the first time since I bought a Kawai ES1 in 2001.

The main use for the soon-to-be-mine dp will be for home practice. However, it will also have to be able to serve the purpose of playing small till medium sized gigs, whether it's solo dinner music or accompanying a singer. It will therefore have to be portable (although I don't mind the workout in carrying a few extra pounds around). I will also have to travel with it overseas in a few months.

On-board speakers is a must for me and an important factor--they must be decent enough to enjoy playing at home parties and smallish dinner-music-gigs. Another important factor to me is the quality of the keys; mainly the touch/feel of the playing them.

The models I've been looking at online and reading reviews on are the Yamaha P155, the Roland FP-7F and the Kawai EP3. The Yamaha and the Kawai seem to range around $1000, the Roland costing twice as much. However, I found a used FP-7F online for a similar price as the others new. That particular one is advertised featuring PHA II, as new ones seem to feature PHA III. I have no clue as to what the difference is. I am also found of the Kawai ES6 (or the 7), if I could find a used one, since I'm not willing to spend much more than $1000.

My current location is unfortunately the middle of nowhere in Ohio, with no digital piano stores anywhere close, so I might have to buy one "blindly" online.

If anyone gave themselves time to provide words of wisdom and advice on this, I would highly appreciate it. Also, where would be promising for me to look for used digital pianos? I've not come across many used ones in my past weeks' online search.

I look forward to reading your responses and thank you in advance!

The used Roland you are looking at is not the FP7F. Probably it's the FP7.

Sticking around $1000 and wanting speakers basically means the P155 and ES3 if you want models that are current. For pianos with speakers Yamaha sells the CP300, which is significantly more than 1000. However, if you buy one of its predecessors of the same form factor on the used market, you might not spend as much. On the other hand, they don't often show up on the used market because a lot of people liked having a portable piano with actual decent speakers.

Please check carefully that you are not confusing the new model FP-7F with PHA-III with the much older model FP-7.

I would suggest you in your situation to search and listen to plenty of recordings of the candidate instruments, i.e. on youtube. Roland sounds quite different than Yamaha and Kawai. Yamaha and Kawai do not sound much different to me. You will be able to already limit your number of final candidates based on your taste of sound. Afterwards I would search and read intensively here on the forum about issues or piano comparisons reported here in the forum before making a final 'blind' decision.

If the used Roland is an FP7 (not FP7F) I'd avoid it.

For the purposes you describe the Yamaha P155 remains a solid instrument within your budget. Otherwise Kawai ES7 and Roland FP7F may be attractive, but they are above your budget when bought new.

Why is everyone putting down the possibility of a used FP-7 at $1k? I'd take that over the P155. Honestly, while the FP-7F is nicer, I don't think the FP-7 lags all that far behind.

Sorry, I didn´t intent at all to put down the possibilities of a FP-7. I just wanted to point out, that there are maybe two different models which about the OP is speaking without being aware of it.

Isn't the P155 almost as old as the now retired FP-7? It was a more premium product than the Yamaha when they were both current models.

IMO, the FP-7F was a big step up, but anotherscott's point is well worth considering. Before the model changeover, I think the FP-7 topped out at about $1800 street price. At $1k, I'd say the discount is not unreasonable for a higher level board like that.

Thanks all of you guys for your comments. I've looked into this and it actually is a FP-7F, so the seller must be mistaken when stating is has the PHA II but not III.

I'm still kinda hesitating as to buying it used and online without trying it out.

I've heard that the Kawai EP3 is a less expensive version of the ES6, can anyone affirm that? And if so, what are the advantages of the ES6?

Lastly, is buying used digital pianos something one should avoid or is it considered OK? And if it's OK, do you guys know of an online place that offers good deals on used digital pianos?

The Guitar Center near me has used keyboards in-store. The advantage of buying it in a store is you probably get a little warranty or return policy cushion.

An FP-7F at that price is very attractive. I cannot speak to the risk level for an unknown used seller. New is certainly safer, but if I was considering used, FP-7F would be at the top of my list. (Oh, wait. My FP-7F was used by a piano teacher daily for 7+ months.)

I would have bought mine new if it hadn't been for the unusual opportunity. It makes me happy.