Hi, I've been lurking and reading posts for a while - thanks for all the good info and opinions.

I've been trying to learn piano off-and-on for a long time and although I'm still terrible, I expect to have some time so I'm thinking of upgrading my ancient (15 years) digital.

Are the auto-accompaniment and rhythms really fun once you know how to use them or just a gimmick that never gets used once the piano leaves the store? I expect I'll play mainly popular songs for the foreseeable future.

For example, I've seen used Kawai CP-170s for reasonable prices. Although they were replaced, they seem to have very good touch and sound but a big feature is their styles and accompaniments. If that will make piano more fun (and hide my abysmal playing) I'm all for it but if it's just a gimmick, I can buy a smaller, simpler piano. Thanks

Auto-accompaniments can be fun. It's like being a one-man band. But whether you need it on the keyboard is questionable, to me. I use my keys with a computer so I don't require the extras built-in. But I do have them on mine just because it's fun to play every now and then.

It all depends on your style of playing, mainly. If you're a soloist and intend to stay that way don't bother with it. If you'd like to play along with "others", it's a way to do it.