My Goodness Folks! Dom couldn't have explained the reason for the weight any better.

I think what most aren't seeing here is WHAT the Mediastation really is... How many times have you seen someone post here about wanting to take their laptop with them on gigs, but don't want to haul that along with their keyboard. What the hell do you think the MediaStation is???

The MediaStation "IS" your keyboard and laptop in ONE unit. Break it down and what have with the MediaStation is simply that it is "literally" a computer with one hell of a bad ass midi controller attached and fine tuned to it. That's simply what it is.

Be pissed off if you want that someone said "homeplayer" when talking about some of these arrangers. Well like it or not, the makers THEMSELVES market these as " home keyboards". Yammie, Korg, and Roland make full synths as well as arrangers. Take Yamaha for example. Compare the construction quality of the Tyros 2 to a Motif ES-7. It's like night and day.

Sure Dom can add a lighter composite plastic body, but that doesn't always means it's cheaper to make. Anyone here own a pistol with a high impact composite frame??? Those aren't cheap. Seriously be realistic about this.

Dom clearly pointed out the FCC regulation, ect as for some of the UNAVOIDABLE weight issue. Geez compared to what we used to lug around, the MS's weight ESPECIALLY for a solidly built 76 key unit isn't nothing.

Also why should Dom go cheap on the body. Yammie and the others make cheap boards clearly marketed to the home player with flimsy plastic bodies. Dom makes a PROFESSIONAL keyboard, not directed at the home market. It is built to take the abuse of daily gigs. Now it's not to say that just because you have a keyboard marketed for home users it's a toy (we've all beaten that topic to death over the years so no use going into that crap again).

Dom I say ROCK ON my friend. You have clearly made a keyboard worthy of the money, and clearly lets the other makers know, they NEED to catch up because these open source keyboards ARE the future for keyboard players. Naturally those used to the typical "hardware" unit will be skeptical. It's like watching 8 track tape fade into where we are today with portable MP3 players. In time everyone will fall in line

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 12-18-2006).]