I looked at some regular upright pianos which would be ideal but since buying any type of piano is not really in my budget I could not afford to be sold into a lemon and may not be able to afford up keep on anything I could manage to get myself into. So I started looking at the digital pianos and I looked at some discussions about them here at the forums. A lot of people rave about certain models of Yamaha and Kawai, and I'm sure they are great but any money I could save would be ideal. I was wondering if anyone knew anything about the Yamaha YDP213. It doesn't have the bells and whistles that the other models have but does anyone know if it is realistic that I could learn to play on this? I have a link here that gives specs and it has a link to supposedly hear it being played. If anyone could offer any advice on this I would really appreciate it. I'll post the link here. http://www.musiciansbuy.com/Yamaha_YDP213_Digital_Piano_with_Free_YDP213KIT.html

if you were to consider YDP213, you might as well consider a YDP-S30 instead since it's a new model and it has some updates over 213 and about the same price.

http://www.samedaymusic.com/prodsearch?form=search/ppc&cat=2690&cat2=3597

If you're just starting lessons and are concerned about budget, I'd look at entry level Casios. They're under $500 and fine to learn on. The YDP213 is a cabinet style piano, the casios are stage pianos (no cabinet). Not sure if that's important to you, but you can save a bit of money by giving up the cabinet.

Yeah I agree with MarkL. You could save a couple of more bucks if you can get the portable digital pianos (i.e. "DP")...you can still learn on these MINUS the bulk of cabinet type DPs.

If you're looking for a sub-$800 DP, then consider these 128-note polyphony DPs (click on each link):

Casio Privia PX-120
Casio Privia PX-200
Casio Privia PX-320

Yamaha P-85 (64-note polyphony only)

Portable DPs aren't bad at all to start learning on or practice on since they also offer good key resistance (subjective) by virtue of their graded hammer-action mechanisms (these "simulated" graded hammer-mechanisms of DPs are patterned after the real hammer-action mechanism of real acoustic piano).

But MarkL, Casio also has cabinet-type DPs, look at this:

Casio Clavinet - Cabinet-type Digital Pianos

Those sound good but I don't have anywhere to set them so I would have to buy a stand and everything. Adding accessories is gonna make the price go up more anyways isn't it? Also, you don't think it's neccesary to have the three pedals when learning if you eventually want to trade into an acoustic piano?

Shouldn't cost any extra money, most online purchases come with at least a stand. For example here's the 110 with stand, bench and headphones:
Casio online

Regarding 3 pedals, most stage pianos support 2 pedals, the second one plugs into a separate jack. One pedal is probably all you need for some time.

The new YDP series will be coming out in April/May:

http://www.yamaha.com/namm/w2008/PressReleaseDetail.html?CTID=5041913&CNTID=565924

Well I found the YDP-S30 on sale. It might be more than I need to start but for almost $300 less than retail value and free shipping my husband said I can have it. If I've made a mistake the company will accept a return and pay for the return shipping if I am unhappy within the first 20 days. Thanks all for your suggestions. Those Casios did seem decent for starting out but since my hubby said I could spend a little more I just went for it. (I think he is just as interested as me secretly though and wants to spend the extra money himself)

Good choice!

Peter Baartmans YDP-S30

Peace,

/Richard

I'm not sure where you're located, but if you have a Music & Arts store near you, they are having a 20% off sale on their digital pianos. I saw the Yamaha YDP-223 on sale for 1600 - 20% off = 1280 + tax. This was in Marlton, NJ. Great deal if you're in the market to getting that DP. The deal ends at the end of the month.

You are right. This is a great deal if you live in the South Jersey or Philly area. They also have a store in Horsham, PA. That's the cheapest I have seen that piano priced at. It's very comparable to the Clavinova CLP-230.

I live in a rural area (we have an organ store in the mall...just organs) Iwould have to drive atleast an hour to an hour and a half to get somewhere that sold all of these. JSYK if anyone is interested I bought it from kraft

Kraft is an excellent store. I purchased a ydp213 for my Xmas gift and delivery was prompt and free. The instrument however had a defective key. Called and got very courteous service and arranged to have a new one sent and the bad one picked up at the same time.
I also upgraded to the YDP223 at the same time with no problems. They even contacted me to see if everything was OK.

Yes, Kraft is a really great store with great customer service. I asked for a discount and I received my digipiano for much less than the advertised price on their website.