Electric Piano

Looking for a decent but not over the top electric piano for our daughter who is 9 years old and has taken two years of piano lessons.  We don't have the room or the budget for a regular wood piano, but would like to have something decent for her to keep learning on.

Any thoughts?

I don't think you mean electric piano (a jazzy, loungy type of thing). I think you mean digital piano. Get a decent one with weighted keys. W did the sme when our kid was taking piano lessons. Very effective.

Yes, you can tell how little I know.

What brand did you get?  Model perhaps?

It was about 7 years ago, but it was a mid-priced Casio like this one below. Still have it. It serves well. Yamaha also sells similar products.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Casio/PX-160BK-Digital-Piano.gc

Weighted keys are essential, not optional. Any decent piano teacher will agree. The piano ragnatela cites might be good, but whatever you consider, get the teacher's approval. My wife's students have bought good and bad pianos, and the results are discernible in the lessons.

I say what most would - get weighted keys. Don't skimp on the foot pedal either - get the $30 M-Audio one and not the $15 one. "Plastic spoon" keys have their place in midi controllers and synths for professional stage players - beginners who try to learn with them will become quickly bored and quit. Don't be fooled by the number of pre-programmed "effects" -- generally, the less the better.

Be aware of the difference between "velocity sensitive" and "weighted". Weighted is better - velocity sensitive just means they're still plastic spoons but the electronics are slightly better.

Yamaha has a great 88-key weighted set on the market for ~$500-600 that I bought a few years ago and I love it - it's got 14 sample sets (not 14,000!!) that are your standard grand, upright, EP's, etc. 

For your edification, I have cut and pasted various comments from some piano teacher Facebook pages.  This is a big topic in most of the groups I participate in.  Most teachers would rather a student use a good digital piano with weighted keys, than an out-of-tune, decrepit acoustic piano. Sometimes you can get an acoustic piano for the cost of moving it, but maintenance costs are required.  A digital piano will not last anywhere near the 50-100 years that acoustic pianos do. Some music stores offer great rental pianos.  

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"digital pianos" have 88 weighted keys..."keyboards" do not have weighted keys and most have 76 or 64 keys. 

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The Yamaha S90es is the closest to a full weighted action most similar to a
real piano. It has 88 keys and is pretty heavy. Not sure they make
them now since the new Montage is out now. Check out Guitar Center for
used S90's. Price will be around 1000-1300 depending on age.
Avoid Korg. Learning curve is too steep. The Yamaha M0X8 is
is popular, but only half weighted keys. And Rhodes is too sluggish in
the action. Forget Nord. Only good thing is it's red color & great
internal sounds. Lousy action. Best keyboard considering money &
similarity to a real piano is the S90es. These are Pro keyboards, by the way. She'll also need to purchase a heavy duty scissor stand and speakers.

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Can someone shed some light on if there's a difference between these terms, or do they all mean the same thing?
- weighted keys
- touch-sensitive
- Graded Soft Touch keyboard action with different levels of resistance

The Yamaha website has a good explanation on all this. It describes the changes in technology over time.

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The Casio Privia line is great, and they have some in this range. ($up to 400) They have furniture-looking stands that raise the price slightly, but add a ton
of stability.... the Casio Priva PX160 for $549. and it comes with a really nice wooden stand I have several students who use the PX160. GREAT piano

You can get a Yamaha YPG-535 or P-45 for around $500. Both 88 weighted keys. I don't know of any full-size portable keyboards with 88 weighted keys for $200. The Casio PX160 mentioned above is about $500 as well.

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AND LAST, BUT NOT LEAST:
http://thehub.musiciansfriend.com/keyboard-buying-guides/digital-piano-buying-guide

Good luck.

(My parents bought me a studio upright that has lasted almost 50 years.  I'm still not ready to get rid of it.  When I'll be looking at pianos for myself, I will take along a piano tuner/technician to verify its worth.)

We've had a Casio Privia 150 for our daughter for the last three years and has been used daily.  It has weighted keys, is piano-teacher approved, and has been great except for one key that went bad and needed repair.  Our came with a wood (really fiberboard) case that looks ok.  

Thanks SOOOOO much to all of you!

I pmed you. Check your messages.

I have a Korg SP-170s electric piano. About $600, very good sound, 88 weighted and touch sensitive key. Not a lot of features, 10 voices, just sounds and plays great for the money.

Any updates on this?  I am in the market and looking for something as close to a real piano as possible.

I have a Casio that's more than ten years old and it's a pretty good facsimile of a real piano. It cost about $600 back then, I think. I would imagine the technology has gotten a lot better in the interim and probably any Casio or Yamaha or Korg would do the job. Your best bet is to go to Sam Ash or Guitar Center and try them out. Costco occasionally has one out on the floor also.

ETA: there are a lot of reviews out there which can give you an idea of what's available at different price points.

ETA again: oops, forgot. Are you still stuck in Canada?

I didn't think of it as stuck until my Dad got sick but yes.

Thanks for the reviews link.  Looks like there are some points to ponder in there.

Does anyone have experience with kids learning on an electric/digital piano who have gone on to become  successful classical pianists on an acoustic, (wooden) piano?

I still have the piano I learned on,  I'm curious because I don't think my interest in playing -- and in music in general -- would have bloomed the way it did if I had started on an electric instrument

I was very lucky to go to a liberal arts college as a music major.  Every practice room had a grand piano in it.  Hard for me to imagine any of the piano majors playing their senior recitals on an electric piano.

But maybe I'm just old-fashioned......       (Sending you a PM, mfpark)

I don't know how old you are but I imagine digital pianos have changed radically since I was in college (the early 90s).

In any case, we have moved twice in the last year and will probably move again in the next year.  Our current home is at the end of a dirt road and up a long flight of stairs.  A digital piano that we might actually own is going to be way better than a wooden piano that we definitely cannot get.