I had a small bonus on the last paycheck and decided to go with the Casio Privia.

But my wife played it first and couldn't stand the key feel. It didn't seem that much different from the Yamaha Clarinova to me, but she's played a lot more piano than I have, so I deferred to her.

So we went to a bigger music store and played them all, and she like Yamaha key feel better in all cases.

She doesn't want a stage piano (I was holding out for the P-120.) So it looks like the P500 is about the lowest price of the digital pianos available locally, about $E 715, which wouldn't be bad except for the current exchange rate.

Are there any negatives to the P500?

I have a yamaha p250, which is pretty much the same except it doesn't have the styling, stand, 3 pedals, and metronome of the pf500. I'm quite happy with it.

The only thing you might want to think about is that some people complain that the action on yamaha digital pianos is a bit heavy. We also have an old mason & hamlin upright acoustic piano, and the action is much lighter on the acoustic piano than on the yamaha digital. Maybe if I compared it to a huge concert grand the action on the digital would seem more realistic.

For some reason, Yamaha digital piano keys action is heavier. Its grand piano action is heavier too. I had Baldwin grand before and its action is quite lighter.

i'm not sure if you actually mean PF500 rather than P500? i got PF500 and like it. some people may think the key action on Yamaha P series is heavy (or too heavy as some said), but i don't really think so now after playing it for a while. i begin to feel the 'lightness' of the keys as my playing becomes more relaxed and comfortable. the heaviness of the feel is quite subjective actually, and as you play long enough, you will find out the way to use the key weight action to your advantege rather than against it and the way to use minimum effort to produce maximum tone or sound you want with keys, which is exactly what i am experiencing. when i tried my friend's Yamaha U1 (acoustic) the other day, it felt like nothing and even lighter than my digital and it became so easy to play it now.

Uh oh. Yes I mean P500, but I don't know the difference.

so, you are talking about this one:

http://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/CDA/Cont...L%253DY,00.html

which seems a discontinued model and i wouldn't bother with.

The Yamaha P500 is discontinued. I am guessing that it's Acoustic Pianos probably are similar to those found on the P150/P300.

Chris

Thanks for the comments, they are appreciated.

Now I'm having second thoughts.

It looks like it is more sophisticated at MIDI than I need or understand, but that may be a good thing.

But it is only 32 voice polyphony, and I'm not sure it is the graded hammer keyboard, though it felt pretty good. It only says velocity sensitive. And I'm not sure speakers come with it.

The local dealer still has them, but there is a language barrier that makes details hard to discuss.

The biggest defect I can see is that the voices do not seem to include harpsichord. I don't need a large selection of special effects but I like a decent piano and harpsichord, and church organ is nice. Those 3 would be plenty for me.

This is basically a learning keyboard for my daughters who are in piano lessons, and for me. My goals are modest, church hymns and Bach.

I guess I need to drive back there and let my wife play them all over again.

If you value harpsichord and church organ to play Bach and hymns, and want a good piano voice, then the PF500 (not the P500) may be ideal for you if you can find one. Not sure what deals are available to you where you are (Germany?). My PF500 is the only one I have seen here in Australia.
Anyway I play a lot of Bach using the excellent harpsichord voices also carols and hymns on the organ not to mention the organ Toccata and Fugue for which the tutti organ voice is great.
Good luck.

It's too late, I bought the P500.

It works fine, it has a good keyboard feel. I never change the preset tone, though my daughter does.

This was the lowest priced digital piano in the local store, except for the Casios which my wife rejected.

One big defect is that it is not dual voltage and when I return to the US I'll have to sell or buy an expensive transformer.

It has MIDI out, which I haven't played with yet (haven't bought a cable.) It does not have a recording feature. It should be possible to record and play back the MIDI with suitable connections. I hate to move the PC in that room though, wish I could do that to a MiniDisc.

Having real keys instead of the lightweight keyboard I was using makes a world of difference. We'll see if our lessons go better now.