I am trying to decide which digital piano to buy? It is for myself and my 8 yr. old son, who is taking lessons and eventually, will be used by my 2 daughters when they are old enough!! I was looking for cheaper digital pianos but my kids loved the different things they could do with the more expensive models. They can't wait to sit and play on the piano. I priced a Roland KR-3 for $3000, KR-377 for $3199, KR-5 for $4000 and a Technics Digital for $2195(model comparable to the KR-5). My budget leans towards the Technics piano. I understand they are not making this piano anymore but service will still be available. Any suggestions?

I would suggest a Kawai CA-7. It might be as close a real piano you can get.

The keyboard action is very good with wooden keys and this new model also has a rather convincing damper effect and string resonance to the piano sound, something you will not find in other digital pianos.

The German site has some audio demos: www.kawai.de

Which features did your kids like on the more expensive models?

If you want to go really cheap, look at the casio privia px-300, px-400, px-500. They have 88 weighted keys, and the touch is not bad for the price. They have over 100 different sounds, song recorder, and accompaniment features. The px-500 has key lighting to teach songs. They range from $600 - $800.

Yamaha CLP series or PF500 would be good choices for home piano.

I bought a CLP 990 a few months ago for $3,200 and I 'm very happy with it. I would have bought a CLP 170 otherwise (the dealer was offering that at the same price). The CLP 990 model has been discontinued -- I find it is a great way to save money if you can find a dealer that still has them. The Kawai CA 7 sounds very good too and it is the latest model. I was told they were going for around $3,000.

My kids loved the vocal sounds and etc. plus the drums. I would like to have somthing that we will enjoy for years to come, so I was looking at something a little more than just a basic digital piano. Are the pianos I priced not good? They are what a local dealer had in stock and recommended. My knowledge about digital pianos is very limited. I have played around on them in the stores and that is about it. One other dealer I went to thought I should buy a Kurzweil Mark 10 for $3000. I really didn't want to spend that much.

If you want a high-end piano with a lot of bells and whistles, then the ones you mentioned in your original post are probably great.

But if you want to save a huge amount of money, go to guitar center, sam ash, or any local general purpose music store. There you will find already deeply discounted prices posted on everything, no haggling needed. You might not get much help from the bored, tatooed 20-something in the keyboard dept there, but you will save a lot of money if you find something that you and your kids like.

The casio models I mentioned previously have drums and voice sounds. There are also more expensive (than the casios) roland digital pianos that have these features, the fp2 and the fp5 at around $1300.