Digital Pianos have some great advantages to them.
They save space, allow quiet practice with headphones, they're low maintenance and never need tuning and chiefly they offer great value for money.
One of the myths and legends associated with digital pianos is that you need to spend a lot to get a good model, which simply isn't the case. To that end, we've put 4 of the best under £1,000 under the spotlight. Have a look at what we found...
In my opinion this model offers outstanding value for money. By far the cheapest model of the 4, it also has, to my mind, the most attractive 'traditional' styled cabinet, with the front legs. The bigger cabinet also helps the built in speakers (the biggest of the 4), which thrive on the resonant space of the cabinet and give a fantastic bass response.
The functions are user friendly and laid out across the top of the keyboard and the MIDI connections give an extra dimension to it, allowing for recording or sampling with a computer. The AUX out also allows you to use an external sound system for recording or improving the sound with bigger speakers.
It's difficult to find a bad thing to say about this model. While you won't perhaps catch a professional playing one, it's ideal for the musically curious, young beginners or for home practice.
The PX-750 is Casio's first piano sized keyboard with a cabinet. Focusing on saving space, it's a minimalist design but still works well. The ebony/ivory key tops offer a nice feel and the keyboard responds well. The 5 different pianos voices offer a very nice spread between mellow and bright examples, giving a sound to suit every player. Like most Casio pianos I find the bass to be a little underpowered, but this is down to personal preference and depends on the type of sound you want.
All in all, the PX-750 is a good all rounder. It won't break any records, but for a no nonsense piano with a few different sounds to play with, it's a good first purchase.
Yamaha's entry level Digital Piano has just been upgraded with new software and sound engine, and the result is fantastic. The Pure CF sound engine was only previously available on the much more expensive Yamaha pianos and really makes a difference to the 142.
The only thing that lets it down are the small speakers - at 6 watts they're fine for home use but for anything bigger like a church hall they're probably a little underpowered. The model up, the 162, offers 20 watt speakers and an ivory touch keyboard, but this does come at an increased cost.
Roland's entry level digital piano still comes with the fantastic superNATURAL sound engine. This is by far the best reproduced digital piano sound I've heard but this does come at a cost - the Roland is the most expensive of all the pianos listed here.
The only thing I don't like about it is the cabinet - which is a very personal thing - but aesthetically it does nothing for me! Their next model, the HP503, has a much nicer cabinet (in my eyes) but it does unfortunately go upwards in price!