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Hi All
I am looking to buy a Yamaha Clavinova off of ebay.
There is a CLP 360, CLP810S, CLP 155, CLP411, CVP 30 and a CVP 55 all for the same price range.
Despite my best efforts to look for descriptions of these models I cannot find anything.
So, do you guys have any recommendations as to which would be best to buy (or even an order of best to worst?)
I am brand new to pianos and want a digital piano that has a full keyboard, touch sensitivity, and scope for me to improve in the future (in whatever direction that may be)
Thanks to anyone who may offer help and guidence.

check product history first, and don't bother with anything more than 8 years old:

http://www.yamaha.co.jp/manual/english/chron.php

if you must choose, get the latest one from the list.

The Clp-270 is amazing if you have the money. Speakers are amazing (better than the grandpiano versions). The 280 is much more expensive for the same touch and sound (beside wood layers on the side of the white keys).

Anyway, it's quite a good feeling to own one of those.

I wouldn't buy any of those models. You would be much better off looking at a brand new digital piano. Yamaha and Casio both do decent entry level models for just a few hundred pounds, and you'd be getting a brand new instrument.

Also, you can audition these in advance and pick the model you like best rather than taking a punt in the dark on eBay.

how one can help you without knowing how much you want to spend on a piano and how you gonna to use it? without knowing this i find it impossible to suggest anything.

he must be looking at something cheap but in home piano form. so, the newest CLP and better ones might not be within his reach.

magic number or not, the point is that DP technology has advanced quickly in past 10 years so that those old models, no matter how good condition they might be in, are really outdated too much from the DP technolody point of view, and not worth much of considering, despite how cheap their price may be.

I guess the question is, is a cheap current digital piano better than a state of the art, flagship 8 year old piano?

And the answer is yes IMHO.

HI

Thanks for all your help guys.

My situation is that I am just moving house so money is obviously fairly tight.
My thoughts were to get a cheapish piano for 6-8 months and if I get on well with playing, to upgrade to a newer version towards the end of the year.

My budget is only about £430 and I haven't seen a new piano for this range. However, by Oct I should be able to afford up to £1000. I just don't want to wait till latter year to start learning.

Would it be detrimental to learn on a 10yr out of date piano and then try switching to one which is more realistic to playing a piano?

You can get a Yahama P85 for £425 online from Chamberlain Music.

An excellent starter piano whcih would do you for quite a while I think.

You can also get a 76 key NP30 for just £159.

http://www.chamberlainmusic.com/results.asp?cat=KBPORT

Both brand new, bang up to date and with a warranty.

Someone mentioned Korg SP250 which sells for under 500 pounds in UK: http://www.absolutemusic.co.uk/shop/view_product.php?product=korsp250b

I would take this without looking back. I know a young Italian student from conservatorium who is earning some pennies to his tight student budget by playing in a restaurant of my friend. He uses exactly SP250 for this and plays mostly classic. When I asked him (as a professional musician) he told me SP250 would be more than fine DP. I also hear this piano in action very often as I pop to this place from time to time and all I can say SP250 is excellent choice on a tight budget. I tried it only once there when Mario was not playing and SP250 sounded great.

you also may like to check cheaper Yamaha and Casio PX200 which offers newer keybed and 128 polyphony for a modest price.

i also would not think about throwing away 400 pounds on the old piano because digitals depreciate so fast in price while reselling a newer model will be easier in case you decide to upgrade.

Would you think it would be worth spending a bit more and buying a Clavinova 201 or should I stick with something like a new Korg or Yamaha P85?

it seems that CVP201 is not a bad choice, which has GH action at least better than GHS on P85. they all have 64 polyphony. if that price is close to what you're willing to spend or to that of P85, then it would be good. but be sure you check out the condition of that CVP201 and play it before deciding.

i have no idea about CVP201, sounds like the old model before CVP301 and 401?

it is your choice, try them out and decide. i personally would wait or pick a new model right away , but this is me.

imho, it is not wise to buy something "temporary" and hope to upgrade to something better later. If you are serious about playing piano (even if a total beginner like myself) it is best to buy the best (and that means the most expensive, sadly) thing in the world so that you conentrate on learning to play and not on thinking whether you made the right choice.

This basically means you should get Yamaha Clavinova CLP-280 now
Or, if there is just NO WAY for your budget to stretch to £2259 then go for CLP-270 or as an absolute minimum CLP-240. Many may think I am joking (as even CLP-240 is such a fine piano that should suit even an intermediate/advanced player really). But I am not. I give you a good advice with the view of a very dangerous syndrome --- the gear acquisition one.

There is an ancient saying in the East --- There is nothing cheaper than the most expensive stuff (the moral being --- you won't need to spend more on buying something better).

Also, I don't recommend you to buy it via ebay. Although I am a very old ebay user and buy (and sometimes even sell) a lot via ebay, the pianos are different in that ebay is not the best place to buy them from. (Mind you, I sold my DGX-620 via ebay recently).

The best prices on CLP-280 PE at the moment (in the UK) are from Chappel of Bond Street (£2259) and Turnkey.co.uk (£2200 if you point Chappell's price out to them). Get CLP-280 and enjoy your learning to play (and forget about shopping for a "better" DP for a long time as there is none

Tigran, I think you are kidding but please have some respect for people whose pockets are not that deep like yours.

Seriously I would say for utmost budget piano I would consider Casio PX200, 320 and 720.

For entry level DP I would look at Yami CLP220 or (if more pennies) CLP230. Alternatives could be Roland HP201 which is very nice for the money and is close in key and sound to HP203 but lacks a few gimmicks.

Of course for serious snobs (like Tigran) :p I would recommend either HP207 or CLP280 (or CLP270 if you do not mind missing wooden keys). Believe me, wooden keys do not mean you get a real piano key feel. If in doubt then go to a shop and try top of the line DP alongside with real grands from Yami or Steinway. I did it and that erased all my illusions.

I was both kidding and serious. The serious part is that, indeed, buying a more expensive item (not just in DP, in other areas too) often turns out to be more economical at the end. But the kidding part was "you have to get CLP-280 [_specifically_]". Of course there are several other fine DPs out there --- e.g. Roland HP-207, Kawai CA-91 (and 71) and probably many others I haven't tried. It would be foolish to seriously insist that CLP-280 is the _only_ good DP. But of all those I tried I liked CLP-280 best.

And I do understand that getting wooden keys (especially only _white_ wooden keys) doesn't make a DP equal to an acoustic grand. I only got CLP-280 (as opposed to 270) because it subjectively _felt_ better/easier to play, that's all

Same thing happened to me. I tried a CLP280 and bought a real acoustic upright instead. No comparison, not even close.