Try to find a good used older model Ketron X1 which still sound great.. then you could still play many of the newer ketron latin styles SD1 etc,.. thru it..saving money and still getting the good latin sound you need.

For under $1000, for all its' faults, I still don't think you are going to find a better Latin music arranger than the GW-8L. VERY light, and very good Latin sounds... If the styles don't all blow you away, you can always try converting styles that you DO like.

Mind you, what DO you like so far? You can't convert Ketron styles, because the percussion is an audio loop. If nothing else other than Ketron floats your Latin boat, you may be stuck with having to get the real deal...

To Fran.... does the Prelude come in the same -L -A and -O variants as the GW-8? Thing is, each of those variants had an additional 64MB of samples for the World section, so without those, it's not capable of playing the World styles.

YES

Has anybody heard salsa, merengue, bachata, and cha cha cha on the GW8? The demos feature some nice cumbias. On youtube Cesar Guzman gives a demostration at the 2010 winter NAMM show and someone asks him about the salsa styles on the GW8 and he kind of changes the subject quickly. Strange...

If the other latin style sound anything like the cumnbias I think I'll get one. But so far I haven't found any demos that feature other latin styles besides cumbia. Wierd...

Are there NO Roland dealers in your area? As cheap as the GW-8L is, somebody is likely to carry it...

You might also post some questions to GW8-L users at Roland-arranger.com. We are starting to get a small community of GW-8 users there, got an active Bug forum (few small issues, most of which are down to 'why isn't it a Yamaha? ), and some of them might be in a position to comment about the authenticity of the styles. I'm afraid I'm old school Latin, myself, so I can't really comment on whether the modern styles are accurate or not...

Diki, I've called all the Guitar Centers in Texas and they don't carry it. Arrangers other than Yamaha are hard to find around here

I'll check out that roland forum. Thanks for your input!

Another thing: could anyone kindly direct me to a list on styles on the GW8?

download the GW8 manual..
http://backstage.rolandus.com/product_manuals/?group=3

download the style list here from my files..
http://justintimeband.homestead.com/~site/Scripts_UnderConstruction/UnderConstruction.dll?CMD=CMDViewSite&URL=http%3A%2F%2Fjustintimeband.homestead.com%2FXFER.html&HS_ID=1756337081 &REFERRAL=SB

If anyone wants to download the GW8/Prelude style list from my site...I will keep it up another day....Use the link above and open the icon..