... and hear the cries for 'on board' speakers ?!?!? ... I can lift the extra 5 lbs ...
t.

I can agree to a certain extent with the weight thing...but you guys are sacrificing quality for a few extra pounds..

I rather carry my 41 pound keyboard any day..then a keyboard that weighs less and feels like it too..I want to play a keyboard that allows me a comfort range while performing...and I like being confident that when I push a button it will come up again, unlike the light boards you guys mentioned[I know, I also owned these lightweights]..

When it comes to keyboards, automobiles and body guards...I want a little added weight...that will stand up to duty..

I too came from the heavy hauling era...{B3}..but 40-50 lb keyboards...come on guys...

Fran, the Roland G800 I had started falling apart a month after I bought it. The spring in the Joystick broke, the buttons started sticking and getting to where you had to push them very hard to make them work. Even the paint wore off where you had to remember what button did what. Maybe they improved all that in the G1000. Or maybe I had a lemon.
Anyway, in all the years I've played Yamahas, with assorted side journeys with Ketron, Korg, and Technics, I have never had one mechanical problem with them.
Not being a piano player, I also don't like the heavy keys. And even when I had onboard speakers, most nights I disabled them.
Isn't it great we have so many choices now?
Anyway, your compromises are different from mine!
DonM

I've got the solution to everyones problem...
Durable. You can play as hard as you want and it will keep working year after year...maybe?

Lightweight and extremely portable. What could it be you ask... The answer for all our problem is finally here



Now, doesn't that make you appreciate your board?

Dennis



[This message has been edited by TwoNuts (edited 05-14-2006).]

TwoNuts the weight of this keyboard is very good, but the colour is wrong.

Don ... Since using the Logitech Z-55s I've also been disabling the on board speakers during a gig (just sticking a 1/4" jack into the headphone plug)... but for practice and small gigs, I want them ...
t.

I second the opinion that for home users weight is not important, but for the people who gig with their instruments, the LIGHT WEIGHT IS OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE.

Fran,

Yes, I too still like my 41 lb G1000, but the problem is when we say that, Roland interprets it as saying that it's OK for them to make the weight of the next instrument (G70) 3 lbs more. That is not the case at all with me - I would rather that the G1000 (and all newer instruments) weigh 35 lbs or less - and that is quite possible to do without sacrificing the key action, or build quality. I like having a metal frame (to protect against minor bumps which may otherwise crack a cheap plastic case), but it is not necessary anymore with current plastic technologies. Even with the metal case, if the manufacturers were more concerned about the weight and ergonomics, instead of the asthetic look of the instruments, instrument they could easily have built a 76 key instrument weighing only 35 lbs. Ketron does it. Why not Roland or Korg (or GEM)? Is it because they are targeting their big boards for home or studio, and not for gigging?That is the only explanation I can think of.

There are people whose technique relies on having fully weighted keys with realistic action - those do weigh more, though not necessarily in the 60 lbs range. But for the majority of us, satisfied with good semi-weighted action (which is what the best thing that most portable arrangers provide anyway), the instruments MUST be made easy to carry around.

The good styles and sounds do not weigh a lot. There are laptop computers, with relatively large screens, keyboards, lots of memory and large hard drives that weigh less than 3-4 lbs, fully capable of reproducing even the best sounds and styles (and doing a lot more too). The arranger makers may not have the engineering resources lf the large PC makers, but with just a little thought they should be able to easily make a 7 lb module, and the equivalent electronics to go inside a keyboard (without needing a case) could be even lighter. What does a portable piano weigh? around 30 lbs (with 88 weighted keys). The arranger version should make it 37 lbs. A 76 key controller? you do the math. Anything more to me is the gigging performers' needs.

Regards,
Alex