I picked up a Casio PX400R at the local Sam's including bench, stand, microphone, and pedal for a ridiculously low price (last one closeout - under $250.) The tone sucks, but it's a fun toy to play with now and then. I played a few Yamaha digitals and a Korg or two. To my ears the Yamahas sound best. Actions on them are all fairly similar .

--Dennis

What's the sigificant difference between a stage piano and a home piano? If it's just the stand, how important is it to have the 3 pedals and a solid base for the keyboard to learn proper piano technique?

With a stage piano you have following benefits:

- Easier to move than the heavy home organ type digitals, as there are many lightweight components instead of one heavy. As a digital do not need a haevy frame and cabinet, why not take advantage of this? Why pay for wooden cabinet instaed of for good actions and sound?

- You can customize the stand to suit the child's height, so she can sit on the height-adjustable piano stool with her feet steadily on the floor. Avoid cheap waggling X-stands!

- The one sustain pedal required at early stage of paino studies can also be fixed on the floor according to the child's sitting position.

- You have to buy a separate music desk as the incorporated desks are more or less useless, they do not give proper support to normal sheet music.


Drawbacks

- More components to assemble, more electrical wires, technical outlook doees not fit in everyones drawing room.

- You should rather check the co-operation between piano and loudspeakers in your home before buying as the speakers and their positioning do affect the sound and its perception by the pianist.

Look at the Yamaha Clavinova CLP220 and CLP230. Both should street price at under $2k. I believe they are absolutly the most performance for your buck. Strange advice comming from a piano technician. It hurts.
I don't like the Yamaha YDP series. The specs are close to the Clavinova series, but there are some subtle differences. Warranty is significantly different in length and terms of service.
If you want to go acoustic you can get a new Yamaha entry level upright close to the upper end of your budget range.
I have to disagree with apple. Your budget calls for the bottom of the barrel in an halfway decent acoustic. This "shaping each note" description baffels me. The digitals I recommend will have a deep in the key repetition that is not possible on any acoustic upright. The digital will always be in tune and at pitch.
Practice with headphones is a blessing.

Piano Shopper-- once again, I am still not sure why you would invest yet another $2-3K into a digital when inevitably you will have to purchase an acoustic piano? It would still be a wiser choice to invest in an acoustic-- even an entry level one = that can later be traded up to a really nice piano. Even the entry level will have some value as a trade, where a digital really will not. Have you looked a Perzina? I had a beginning student purchase one recently- something about 44" tall- and it is quite nice. I know their budget was similar to yours, so might be worth a look. I prefer the sound of it to most of the other "Asian" pianos I have played, and it has a nice action.

One more thing-- your child's teacher has told you specifically that your child needs an acoustic piano and has reservations about a digital. If you respect the teacher at all, do your best to listen to their advice on this one. You will all benefit in the end.

This advice is spot on. If you want your daughter to learn to play the piano get a piano. If you or she wants to play a keyboard, get a keyboard. The art of the piano playing is all in the dynamics. It's what makes music beautiful and compelling.

For 3K you can get a great used upright piano for your daughter.

practicing with headphones would be a blessing for my family.. but then again the kids wouldn't be running around whistling Bach..

when you strike a key on an acoustic a great variety of output is possible by striking the key differently. digitals attempt to replicate that and do ok in the volume department.. but you can make a single note sound lofty or clear or round or pingy.. throw in a few more notes and one can shape chords.. it's a wonderful thing to exploit and play with. I teach my youngest students to play the melody louder than the accompaniment in the left hand. it is not a skill reserved for fine pianists.