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Hi all

I'm a complete beginner and am thinking about taking up the piano.

What I'm looking for is:
- something that has a degree of portability about it - thinking at this stage of a stage piano type thing (but am a bit concerned as to whether the stands are sufficiently stable as have two 2 year old twins who are very curious)
- something that will have some longevity - so that in a year's/ 2 years time I'm not going regret not getting something better
- has keys that are close to an acoustic so that my kids can use it should they want to do graded music
- price mark up to around £2000, but will require more persuasion of my wife as this number goes over £1000 and will take longer before purchase.
- Whilst I realise that to learn i would probably do better just having the piano without all the other bits, I can't help looking at the other stuff too...


I've had a look at a couple of pianos, but the problem is being a complete beginner its really difficult to have much appreciation as to whether the action is going to be something I like of not. Nevertheless to give you an idea of what I've looked at:
- the Yamaha Clavinovas - really appealing but i fear the portability option will preclude it
- the Yamaha dgx640 - seems like a nice choice, but seems a bit ugly, and the speakers don't look that good so will need to add something
- the Kawai MP6 (and the MP10) - both seem to have great reviews, MP10 seems to be stretching the concept of portability, but the Mp6 is very appealing
- the Roland Rd700Nx - again seems to get fab reviews
- The new Kawai ES7 - possibly the front runner at the moment

Anyway, if you can suggest that something that i have missed or alternatively think i am missing something important in my considerations please let me know.

Thanks in advance to anyone who is able to help

To be honest, you are probably as on top of this as you are going to get, given you are a beginner. Those are all good pianos, you just have to go with your gut with one of them. None of them is exactly like an acoustic action, but none of them are too far away from it either. You could safely proceed with any one of them and be decently prepared to progress to an acoustic later on without too much trouble. The one you like the most is the best choice.

Best of luck.

I have an RD700NX, and I like it a lot as a digital piano. It's not very portable though, between 70+ pounds for the RD itself plus the heavy-duty stand you'd need.

You don't need a heavy-duty stand for the RD, I've got mine on a cheap X stand. A Z stand would definitely be better though, X stands are very unstable when you put something as heavy as the RD on them. It still doesn't need to be heavy or expensive, just more stable.

If you are looking at the RD you might also take a glance at its cheaper brother, the FP-7F. Same action, some of the same sounds, and it weighs...well, a few pounds less.

On the Yamaha side you point out the clavinovas and the DGX, but neither of those are particularly good choices for you. Take a look at the P155, CP33, CP50, CP5, and CP1, depending on how much you want to spend. The first three all have the same action. I think the P155 is a particularly good choice for a beginner, and I think it has a lot of staying power besides a great price.

In Kawai don't overlook the EP3 on the cheaper side. More or less comparable to the P155. No need to blow the budget completely away if you don't need to.

By the way, lots of digital pianos come with cheap stage stands, but if you want more stability, it's not very expensive or difficult to get a higher end and much more stable stand. I use the heavy duty On-Stage Z stand and it is incredibly solid. Doesn't budge for anything. There are also four-legged stands that people around here like a lot.

I have the RD-700NX with the KS-G8 stand and I am very pleased with the combo.

Given the OP's curious 2-year olds, I would imagine the OP is looking for a stable stand.

Good call, however this model is only available in the US. Quoting his/her budget in pounds, I get the impression that Blunderer is based in the UK.

Kind regards,
James
x

Thanks for you all your comments - i find it quite intimidating walking into music shops as a complete newbie, so I'm trying to suck up as much info as possible.

Will look into the other suggested Yamaha models (thanks GVFarns), seems I also need to spend some more time with the Roland Rd700

Will also need to look at the "z-stand", as Clssclib notes I need a stand which will be quite robust - otherwise I'm likely to get either a damaged piano or damaged twin!

Dang, I've made that mistake several times now. Sorry about that. Silly farns.