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Hmm.. Ignorant question I'm sure but.... Casio shows PX-120 & PX-320 models on their website, but I can't find a website that is offering them for sale.

I see posts on this forum dating back to September of '07 talking about these models, when are they going to be available?

Inside another recent thread, someone posted that Casio announced at the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas that these will be available in February. I googled Casio for the info, and Casio says the px120 will retail for $499 and the px320 for $699.

Thanks for the info!

I am curious to see what happens to PX110 and PX310 pricing or if they will be discontinued.

I am also looking at used. Will people drop their prices to $300 level for weighted keys, or keep asking for a minium $400-$600? I just keep thinking, well for $400 -$600 I can get new so don't bite on used unless it is really a not- so -old high end model.

It seems that a mark-down fest may be happening? MusiciansFriend.com shows the price being lower than they used to carry it for. The PX-310 is one example I think.

Good luck in finding a digital that suits you.

Those models have recently become available in europe and have been available in japan for quite a while. The prices of previous generation have not dropped significantly though. The PX-120 came to the stores about €100 above the PX-110. So I wouldn't be too hopeful for any immediate price drops.

Thanks Wandering Weezard and Taibu! I am not in any hurry. I appreciate your observations and thoughts.

on a side note, px200 is $499 now at http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Casio-Privia-PX200-88-Key-Weighted-Slab-Piano?sku=700919

Hmm.. that seems like a pretty nice deal on the PX-200. The PX-200 has the same keyboard as the PX-110/PX-310, correct?

Looks like the markdown fest has begun for 310/200/800, somehow the 110s haven't been going down.

I saw the px200 being sold for $499 at 2-3 places, but in the end, ordered it for $419 at www.music123.com (used the SAVE80 coupon @checkout)

The PX200 is a newer keyboard than the PX110/310.

Hi Weezard

I bought the PX320 yesterday (in store at Guitar Center, Roseville CA) but you can also buy it on line from them (link below)

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Casio-PX-320-88-Key-Digital-Keyboard-703190-i1390792.gc

Also I believe you can buy from musiciansfriend.com and music123.com and many others on line

The PX320 hit the streets here in the USA in February, so it's pretty new, but is available on line. I think it's too early to expect serious discounts and I was too keen to get it now rather than wait for a discount

Only had it one day, so too early to give a full critique, but initial impressions - good sound, good keyboard, lots of bells and whistles to learn and flex.

I own a Kawai Acoustic Grand, I have had acoustic piano's all my life, even had a Bluether Acoustic Grand at one point. I can move from my Grand to the Casio and still feel good about the Casio - so thats a credit to Casio

I am very satisfied with the keyboard feel/weight. I play mainly classical and the keyboard is quite expressive. So all pleased so far
Steve

I clicked on Katia's link to the px200.
One reviewer about the px200 says that it does not allow soft and delicate nuances in your play:
"Do not be misled this piano does not sound realistic at all. On all the piano sounds it is very clunky and not touch sensitive at all. I could not make any distinction between tones except loud and louder." - To me, it is pretty bad for a digital piano forte.
Is it better/improved with the x20's series?
I own a fairly good Yamaha P-120, but I am always looking for anything that could be affordable and better.

"Not touch sensitive"...wow, if you actually read other reviews from other websites/on-line stores and even forums, the lack of "touch sensitivity" of the PX-200 is hardly brought up as a problem.

Although I believe that every one has a right to his/her own opinion, this person's apparent perception of lack of "touch-sensitivity" to the PX-200 may be explained by any of the following:

1) he doesn't have good piano technique (or may have difficulty adding appropriate/good dynamics)

2) he has been accustomed to playing loud music that his threshold for hearing any music "softer" than his usual "forte/fortissomo" music-playing has gone up so much so that UNLESS he plays loud enough, he couldn't fully appreciate anything that sounds below this usual volume or dynamic. In other words, his ear has adapted and has some "preferential" tendency to favor louder tones.

3) his sense of hearing has either been impaired, either through playing and listening CONSTANTLY to loud music for so many years now...OR, there's some sort of a beginning sensori-neural loss problem that is previously undiagnosed.

4) he's a fan boy and bashes anything that isn't a brand/manufacturer he supports.

5) OR, he could just be telling what he thinks really. Really now?

- In this forum, in other forums and in other on-line customer reviews of the PX-200, complaints about the "lack of touch-sensitivity" is almost non-existent...except of course, for his comment perhaps.

- Either he chanced upon a defective product that has a damaged circuitry for the keyboard's velocity mechanism/sensors/detectors OR he is simply one of those hardened people with a "Casio-is-a-toy" mentality.

The PX-200, and even the newer PX-x20 series are just as "touch-sensitive" as even the older Casio PX-100/300/500/110/310/575 are...

If you apply enough force when you press a key, you create a loud sound of that note. Press the key gently, and you create/hear a softer sound. Bang on the keys with your fist, and you end up creating an even louder dissonant tone/sound.

If the PX-200 or the other Privia DPs lacked "touch-sensitivity" I'm quite sure many would have complained and those who own it (especially those with good background in formal music studies, or even those who have played or previously owned acoustic and digital pianos before) would notice it right away because of the constant loud tones produced no matter how gently you press a key.

What people like him need to understand is this:

> Without good competition in the market, prices would be dictated by a select few companies. Imagine if Yamaha and Roland were the only DP manufacturers, I doubt if those budget-conscious buyers would ever get to have their own DPs and practice to their heart's content.

> In line with this, it's good that Casio is actually "catering" to the budget and value segment of the Digital Piano market. This is a niche, that Yamaha and Roland probably aren't as enthusiastic about as the higher-end segment (wherein they could offer more BUT CHARGE MORE as well). Although these two big companies can offer their own line of value DPs with good piano sound, one could easily see that other features are lacking, probably reminding the customers that if you want more features... "spend $3,000 bucks or more and go for our high-end models".

Casio found an "opening" in this market segment, and they're doing a good job of giving Yamaha and Roland a good competition in the value-line DP segment.

As a case in point, the YPG-625/DGX-620 would have been an excellent versatile DP (with hundreds of instrument patches, good piano sound and other features) if it weren't for its 32-note polyphony limitation. Because of Casio's current new offerings of 128-note polyphony DPs (heck even the budget/entry-level model PX-120 has 128-note polyphony), Yamaha would be releasing a YPG-635 (64-note polyphony) to gain some foot-hold in the value-segment DPs and prevent Casio from gaining more market shares in this market niche. I'm quite sure Yamaha would be pricing this upcoming YPG reasonably and competitively.

In fact, look at the Casio Japan website (Privia DPs) you'd see that they have an award for number 1 sales in DP within Japan...beating Yamaha...a long-time excellent manufacturer...and why is this...the answer of course is obvious:

"value for your money" or even "more features at an affordable price".

Now, imagine if there was no Casio DP around to give 'em competition and drive prices down, do you really think Yamaha would bother releasing sub-$600-$700 DPs for "mass consumption".

> With good competition, comes good, competitive pricing and more products to choose from.

As for your P-120:

If there's one thing I particularly like in Yamaha aside from their stereo-sampled piano sound, it's their electric piano patches as well.

My suggestion is, if you're getting a little bored with your P-120 BUT it's still in good condition (eliminating the need to replace it with a new one), you could try hooking it up to a sound module via it's MIDI ports and add a whole new dimension and life to it rather than buy another DP...in which case your P-120 becomes a MIDI-controller that can access hundreds of sounds from a sound module and use it to add variety to the built-in instrument patches in your P-120.

This is OT, but you have spent so much time to answer, the minimum I can do is to give a little bit of background information and feedback.

1st: thanks for answering that way.

2nd: I do not know the guy who posted the review, but I pay attention to this kind of review because most people have a hard time criticizing something they have bought - it might be difficult to admit we can be wrong or something like that.
His criticism might come from the fact that the Casio just sound the same but more or less loud and he was looking for the sound to be different as does an acoustic when you press the keys softly or fast or hard ... It is probably a feature you get from way more expensive DPs (multiple level samplings ...)
His feedback is influenced by his background, past experience, exposure, ... I would not discount his opinion, nor will I assume anything about his physical abilities.

I understand the dynamics of a competitive market, and I am not here to bash Casio. I just seriously consider it, as I did when I replaced my Nikon Digital camera with a Casio.

I am not bored with my p-120, I am just looking for something overall better than my current setting without breaking the family budget.
I have a vintage synth (SY-22) so, with the P-120, the midi-to-parallel adapter and the computer that's already a lot of wires. My wife will kill me if I add a sound module!
If the px320 can replace both (p-120 + SY22), without regressing in terms of touch compared to the P-120, I am all for it as it will save some space and reduce the # of wires: a USB cable and bingo.
I understand the px320 is not a synth and it will not allow any patch creation. But I don't have time for that anymore.

The only place I could have a chance to try the px320 is at Guitar Center, which is not a good environment to try any soft & delicate playing. So that is why I ask the strait opinion from players (if they play classical, it's even better). I am not looking for geeks opinions, excited by 500 sounds, even if 10 only are audible. I am a geek myself, not always objective.
Most of the electronic simulations sound so so up to awful to me even from very expensive synths like the Thyros2 and so on. Still, I occasionally enjoy playing with another sound than just Piano, or even better mix the piano with another sound.

That said ... If px320 can't cut it, I am not in a hurry and I will wait for the next generation and start the evaluation process all over again.

Hi Vincent and BeowulfX

My two cents wordh on the review of the PX which said the reviewer "could not make any distinction between tones except loud and louder" which you are discussing

2 days into ownership of my PX320 and my experience is that the above review is innacurate. I can play loud or soft. In fact a piece I play (Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, Adagio Sostenuto) which requires the soft playing of hundreds of triplets in the RH whilst accentuating the theme whilst playing an octave, BUT still keeping the triplets soft. It's tough to achieve on an acoustic (I have a Kawait Grand Piano/Acoustic) . If I couldn't play this piece succesfully on my PX320 then I would have considered my purchase a failure - but I can play it softly, and expressively. I am still getting used to the feel of the PX320 Keyboard and hopefully my technique will improve and Beethoven will sound better

I think one of you made a very good point about the reviewers technique. Maybe they don't have a technique, so plink plonking on the keys didn't give them any apparent feel for loud/soft etc.

Also, there are 3 piano styles to choose from - modern, classic, variation - I prefer the classic it is less bright, more mellow. The modern is quite bright

Further the sensitivity of touch can be changed. Mine is on whatever the factory setting is, but you can choose between-
1)Normal sound even if person plays with light touch
2) Normal (whatever normal is)
3) Normal sound even if person plays with heavy touch

So some might need to alter this setting to match their technique/weight of touch

I also found it hard to assess the PX320 at Guitar Center, what with guys jamming on guitars with amps, and people walking in and plink plonking on the DP's and trying out all the effects it was hard to play music and listen and make a judgement. I was kinda anticipating this so I asked the sales person for a set of headsets which I plugged into the 320 I was trying out. This helped cut down the background noise, and focus the sound direct in my ears. So in the noisy enviroment of GC I was able to take a view on the sound.

It's a pretty good sound, and you do have some control over it (ie your touch/technique, plus the settings above). Hope this helps
Steve

It does help a lot. Thanks everyone.