Their first NP V-80 was setting there on the cart, unopened, at Sam Ash, so I asked the manager if he'd open it up so I could check it out. He kindly obliged - 45 min. before closing time.

Well, it's all that we expected...76 keys identical to the NP30...Yamaha's Live!Piano voice...a smattering of Cool! and Live! voices...the intelligent arpeggiator (cool)...and the usual standard fare of features Yamaha puts in its entry level models.

This is more of a hybrid keyboard, however. The sound coming out of it was better than expected, and the feature set does give it lots to like for a cool little $399 unit. I like it for what it is, but I was in no way tempted to buy one. It will be interesting to see how and if this line evolves.

Tim

I will definately be getting this for my dorm room. Good sound, very compact and decent keys action (at least better than PSR).

Whats wrong with teh PSR keyboard?

There's nothing really wrong with the PSR keyboard, but I just can't practice piano on it. The NP30's keybed isn't great either but it's the best in its price range. And since I need something that is both very compact and has 76 keys this seems like the best choice.