I am looking into getting a digital piano. I started off without any knowledge at all, but with the help of this site and others on the net I think I have gleaned a small understanding.
I am now coming to the difficulty of making a choice.. Unfortunately my choice is limited because of where I'm located. I can't seem to find many of the models in New Zealand, and the ones they do have are astronomical in price. Over double the price I see them for on the American internet pages. Originally I was thinking of getting the PF500, but that model doesn't seem to be available in New Zealand, in fact the only Yamaha models I have so far been able to find are P90 & P60 for the stage ones, and a much larger range of Clavinova pianos. I have found a couple of American websites that will send a digital piano to New Zealand, but I can't get any that have a stand as that makes it an oversized item. With this in mind I thought the P250 sounded good. I can get it to New Zealand for only $300 shipping, and it only takes 3-5 days.

My questions are this:

Which of the Yamaha digital pianos that the shops in New Zealand have would be a good one to try for me to get an idea if I even like the P250?

When I went out looking for a place that had Yamaha pianos for me to try I found a place that sold Korg pianos, amazingly the price difference isn't near as astronomical as the Yamahas. I played it at the shop and thought I would come home and see what people had to say about it. The only problem is I can't seem to find any posts on this piano here, and not much at all on the rest of the net.

The model is NC-500, from what I can gather it's a pretty new one.
So I was wondering if anyone knows or has heard anything about it.

Like I said, I can't try the P250 so I can't compare them myself. The brochure of the NC-500 says it uses Korg's Real Weighted Hammer Action 2 (RH2), does anyone know how this compares to the P250's?

Thanks for any help you can give

Christine

Christine,
The P250 is an awesome instrument that has both fantastic sound and action however there are many varying opinions on which action feels right.
The "P" series from Yamaha from what I can remember ( I owned a P-120 a couple of years ago) has a relatively heavy action compared to even the Clavinova "CLP" series.
So I surmise that it could be heavier than the RH2 action in the NC500. However, your preference is the telling factor. Try the P90 out to get an idea of how the action will feel on the P250. If you find it to be heavy, I would say that with the variable key touch control present in the "P" series you may be able to fool your fingers into feeling a lighter load than is actually present by altering the response of the keyboard to your touch.
If you have access to the Clavinovas, try them too... I understand the difficulty of not having access to all the products you want to try...
I also would caution you that if it's not present for you to try, it may be ill advised to order it over the internet regardless of price as any follow up service i.e. repair (although very unlikley) could possibly involve a very large shipping bill and negate any immediate savings. Sometimes a higher price is worth it! The cheapest price doesn't always turn out to be the best price! (beleive me I have found out the hard way) I hope this proves to be useful!

Thanks for the reply.

Yes I definitely found the P90 to be heavier then the NC500. One thing I noticed about the NC500 was that the touch varied across the keyboard, heavier on the left and lighter on the right, like a normal piano. Do you know if the P250 does this as well?

I understand what you're saying about buying over the internet... unfortunately I don't have a choice. I can't even get the P250 in New Zealand, for any price. I don't want the P90, and the Clavinovas are just too expensive!

Of course there is the NC500 that I mentioned before which I can buy here, but I don't want to buy it here just because it's here if I'm going to like the P250 better.

I think I am going to call a few places today and see if I can rent a P90 for a couple of days. That way I can get a better feel for it and see if like it. I also want to make sure I'm going to get as much enjoyment out of playing a digital as I do from playing an acoustic.

Christine

Great call on the rental idea Christine! To answer your question, All of the "P" Series from Yamaha have a graded Hammer Keyboard! I understand your challenge with living in New Zealand and not having access to what you want to try. So, my advice is this, Try the P-90. If you like that piano I can assure you that you will like the P250! Hope this helps!
Propiano

there is nothing wrong to buy a piano over internet, which i did and there's no regrets. just have to buy it from a reputable site. packaging is usually secure enough in shipping, but i don't know aobut oversea shipping.

If my opinion serves to you, Yamaha digital pianos have better sounds and action than Korg. I owned a Trinity and work every now and then with a high end Triton ProX at a studio, and those units have the best samples from the Korg line... Yamaha wins. I ended up buying a P60 last year after trying the Korg and Roland options (which were more expensive, by the way.)
Also, in my opinion, heavier action helps you develop better technique and increase strenght... if it hurts, no matter how heavy the keyboard is -within reasonable limits- you are not making it right.

I have a Yahama P-120 which I purchased after comparing them to top-of-the-line Korgs and Rolands. I was looking for the most realistic piano sound and feel, and I found that with Yahama. If you're not interested in realistic piano sound, or if the other voices that come with these instruments mean as much, or more, to you that the piano voices, then the Korg has much to offer. Yamaha achieves its primary piano voice by sampling a Yamaha C7 concert grand multiple times per note -- so it's as close as you can get to an concert grand in an electric keyboard.

The p250 is exactly the same as the pf500 except for the stand, pedals, and metronome (p250 metronome only for recording). The p90, p250, pf500 and most of the current clavinovas (except for the very high end models) have the same action.