Radio Shack has a 26 lb. digital piano for $299 right now that appears to be a stripped-down Casio Privia, possibly of the newer PX series (the original Privias weighed more, the newer ones weighed 26lbs.). It is Model DP-4073 . They are marked for "clearance" at the stores so it may be discontinued. I played one the other day and the weighted action keyboard feels good and the piano actually sounds better than I expected. Not many features - very basic MIDI I/O, headphone output, sustain pedal jack, five sounds (piano can be combined with strings), 32 note polyphony, and it comes in black rather than brown & silver like most Privias... but I think it's the lowest priced Privia-knockoff I've seen. Good practice or beginner piano - not bad as a weighted action controller either. They may not be around long so if you're looking for a very cheap digital piano you might want to check this out.

As far as I remember it's stripped CDP-100, a remake of PX100.

Sounds about right - specs seems to match up. MF sells the Casio CDP-100 with a stand for $499 here. So the RS version looks like a good buy at $299. The description for the CDP-100 says the keyboard has "Naturally Scaled Hammer Action with three levels of touch sensitivity" which also matches up with Casio's Tri-level PX-series.

That's interesting what you're saying about Tri-level sensitivity. That would mean, that the soundchip is the same as in PX-110. However, somebody has written here that action is right away from PX-100 (CDP-100), and not from the newer series.

The tri-level sensitivity refers to a "soft-medium-hard" touch adjustment, not to three samples per note. The touch adjustment is just how hard you have to strike to get a given volume. It has Casio HL (two samples per note) samples.

I actually just bought one of these, as $299 was too good a bargain to pass up. It's still in the car; I haven't even taken it home yet. I had been shopping for a low-end digital piano for a few weeks. A PX-110 would be better, but this is good enough, especially for the price.

Unlike the CDP100, it doesn't come with a stand. It does come with a small pedal. It has MIDI in/out, and a 1/8 phone jack. Five voices: two pianos, one electric piano, harpsichord, and strings. One of the piano samples has only 16 notes polyphony; the other is 32. (Maybe one is stereo? They sounded about the same in the store.)

The Radio Shack manager said these just came in recently, and were not around for Christmas. However, they are already marked as discontinued, and so were discounted. --Dan

Oh, so now it comprehends the thesis that RadioShack=CDP100=PX100 in a new body. I thought it reffered to ZPI new Tri-samples per key.

for your information, Casio PX100 is now selling at BestBuy for $450.

Bought one of these babies today and all I can say is hot damn! Playing it in the store was nothing like playing it at home because the internal speakers do not do the keyboard justice. The speaker system is near-junk (8w+8w) and serious headphones make a big difference. Yes, the acoustic piano sound is very realistic and it rivals keyboards that cost many times more. I found the piano sound through headphones to be a little bright for my tastes but hook it up to an amp and it would certainly cut through in a band situation. There's two acoustic pianos - one stereo one mono, a very basic Rhodes piano sound that benefits greatly from the chorus+reverb effect, harpsicord (can almost get a Clavinet out of it) and strings... you can layer the strings over piano and adjust volume between layers. Caveat: the functions require combination function & key/note presses... cheap but it works.

But hey, forget the internal sounds... I'm using this as an 88-note controller with my Yamaha 9000 Pro for a two-tier rig, hammer-action controller on bottom and 76-note unweighted keys on top. Sweet. Best $299 I've spent in recent memory.

BTW: the finish is very dark gray and the Radio Shack name is only slightly lighter gray so the name won't be visible on stage, especially the way I'm going to be using it. And it weighs 25 lbs, not 26.

Would I need to buy speakers for it? Headphones aren't the only way to get good sound out of this piano, is it?


A little "bright" for your tastes? What do you mean exactly? What kind of amp would you use for this piano?

What is the need for a mono and stereo piano?

No, don't for get it!! I don't have a controller. Any way to improve the internal sounds?


Also, this isn't a cheap piece of junk that is going to break in 5 years, is it?

Please break this down for me. I feel a bit more comfortable knowing a bit more about a product before going into a store so some salesman doesn't try to swindle me into a sale.

Not to poke fun but in Digital Pianoland $299 is chump change so if you can't risk that then this piano is not for you. Since these pianos seem to be in a number of RS stores you can judge for yourself how they sound. Try the RS Piano with and without headphones but don't judge it on internal speakers alone. Lots of people will like the internal speaker sound fine. And the salesmen I met just think it's another keyboard.

I like a more mellow acoustic piano sound and the RS piano has a bite to it, which isn't bad and prolly a good thing for guitarists who want to run a piano through their guitar & bass amps and wipe out the high end anyway. I'm kidding guys. I ran it through my studio powered monitors with some eq and the acoustic piano sound was good. I'll bet for home use a good 2.1 computer speaker system would sound great with this. The Rhodes piano was a little anemic but adequate. I'm used to much more expensive digital pianos so my comments are a little reserved - actually I think this thing is a great bargain in every way.

The reason for mono/stereo piano is likely two-fold: the mono piano probably has full 32 note polyphony and may be better if you want to layer strings... the stereo piano may use two samples per key. I haven't forced dropouts yet to see what that translates to in the real world but I'm sure it's possible to choke it. I enjoyed some good sustained arpeggios in stereo none the less. Another reason for mono/stereo is that some people prefer to use mono keyboard amps or a single PA channel so the mono piano is probably better for that.

I played the RS piano on stage tonight as a controller to my other gear and it felt really nice, not cheap at all. I set it for the "hard" touch and pumped it good and it was firm with comfortable resistance. I'll let you know in five years if it lasts but for now I think it's about as solid a $299 piano as there is.

I stopped by a local Radio Shack tonight to see one of these. I was told that the keyboard has been discontinued. The Radio Shack website lists the item as "In store only."

In this link there is another link that says "Available at most stores, find it near you" which gives you a pop-up window where you enter your zip code and it tells you where you can find this piano in stock in your area. Yes, it does seem that this piano is discontinued so they may not last long at the clearance price of $299.

I went in to look at this keyboard tonight, and bought the last one in the store. I have not played keyboards before, and it has a very weird clunking noise in each key, which the salesman said was because of the keys being weighted. It played ok, pretty good action otherwise. How can I tell how much of this feeling is normal, or if should I take it back?

My RS piano makes no clunking noises at all, and the salemen don't know rip about this instrument. It's actually not weighted action but hammer-action... a slight difference. I would see if I could locate another piano at another store and try it to see if it makes the same noise.

On my RS piano, I hear a thunk on key release, but not on key press. I hear a similar, more muffled noise on a acoustic grand piano I just tried. So I think the clunk is the hammer action return. Since the RS piano case is thin, it's easier to hear. It's much more obvious if the keyboard is turned off. I don't really notice it when actually playing. It's hard to hear over any backgroun noise (such as in the store).

Yes, it is a thunk on key release, which does make sense as a weight return at the back of the key behind the keytops. I will try out some other keyboards at our local piano store (I am shopping for an acoustic as well), but it sounds like what I am describing is normal.

If you are using this as a controller, are syou still stuck with 32 polyphony, or is that only if you are using the internal sound?

I am thinking about getting a "cheap" wieghted key to play MIDI through my computer and I would like more than 32 notes poly.

If you are using internal sound. Its the limit of integral sampler (processing power and so on and so forth), not the keyboard.

I went and tried it out my local Radio Shack store in the mall, and noticed the same thing. I did not buy it though. I would still like to at least compare it to another piano or two.

One of my biggest questions about this: Why is it being discontinued?[/b] Does it has its flaws? Or is it just marketed to beginners and/or people with a limited budget?

Good idea. That's weird that yours does not make any noise.

I believe that's what the one I was trying out was doing. I'd have to try it again and pay closer attention.

Lastly, at the RS store I went to, the salesperson said that the pedal is not included, yet if you check the link online, it says it is included.

Again, the salesmen are clueless but they can look up the piano online just like anyone else and find out what goes with them. One salesman actually told me the AC adapter doesn't come with the piano, which is utterly dumb because the piano does not run on batteries. I got a new piano in an unopened box and it came with the ac adapter, sustain pedal, plastic music rack and owner's manual.

We'll just have to theorize why these pianos are discontinued - there could be many reasons, none of which actually relate to the quality of the instrument. I played two of them before buying one and none had any problems... I was wary of one but that's only because it was the display model in a busy mall, so I called around and found a store that had both a display model to try out and a new unopened unit in the back and that's where I bought mine.

I've played the RS piano nightly on stage as a MIDI controller to my other stage gear this past week and still love it.

Thanks for the input. It is appreciated. I'll have to check out some other Radio Shack stores then. The one I tried, was the only one that the store carried, and it was on display.

Only problem is that only two stores around me carry it, of the 10 or so Radio Shacks around me.