I found an almost new PX-330 on Ebay for $500, so I decided that when it comes, I will turn around and sell the PX-130 on Craigslist. I'm going to try to make $25 profit on it. I bought it for $350. I'll try to get $375 for it.

I decided to splurge. I am going to sell the $550 Apple Gift card I won to buy this. I figure that I could use more time instead of less time being unplugged.

I was going to sell the gift card and just keep the money for bills, but I want to celebrate. My wife has been very sick with numbness and weakness in her limbs. We've been fearing that it was Multiple Sclerosis. That dagger has been hanging over our heads for six weeks because the insurance didn't want to cover a brain MRI. All the other tests had come up negative, and it seemed like MS was a likely candidate. Finally, the insurance company granted our appeal. Well, we still don't know what's wrong, but my wife doesn't have MS.

I should be spending the $$ to pay the hospital, but I need to celebrate.

I'll tell you what I think of the PX-330 when I get it.

Hi Beaky...firstly, I'm sorry to hear of your wife's health problems...it must be very stressful dealing with it, especially with the way USA health care is set up.

I think you made a wise decision getting the PX-330...I've not heard any key wobble issues with that model, and I think the sound will be a big improvement overall.

Plus, it still is very light...and, it has real MIDI!!

Looking forward to your impressions.

Ian

Hi Beakybird!

My best wishes to your wife and her recovery!

I own the Casio PX330 stand and pedal board and I LOVE IT!! You are going to enjoy it. I play the PX330 piano more than any other keyboard I have owned. It does have midi IN/OUT. Having arranger functions on board allows me to break away from my piano and move into my less formal fun time!

I play at home so no need for me to have to move it. The pedal board works great and is very inexpensive. You need the stand to attach it to. The keyboard can be removed easily by unscrewing the turn screws on the bottom. The metal stability bar does weight it down a bit. The pedal board has a connector that attaches under the keyboard to enable pedal functions.

Putting the tones through external speakers shows the quality of the piano tones! I also, purchased a lessor model of the Casio PX the CDP-100 and within one day I upgraded to the PX330 and have not looked back! For piano playing the key-bed to me is tops!

Enjoy it!

-Linda

Thanks for the mini review and best wishes. I'm going to have to get that pedal board. I'm already pricing it.

I've been in the pray that you don't get sick category, and I guess I lost the lottery.

I had an operation for a benign prostate condition last year that contrary to the prognostics of the urologist, was unsuccessful. Now with my wife being sick, I owe $9500. $7000 to the hospital and $2500 to the urologist. Well, I actually paid off $500 so far to the urologist. I'm going to ask for financial assistance from the hospital.

Besides having an extremely high deductible, as soon as my wife got sick, I wanted to get her physical therapy. I soon discovered that my insurance doesn't cover physical therapy.

Right now, I'm paying out of pocket for acupuncture which my wife says brings her relief. We're going to go to a few more specialists, and if they don't have a clue what's going on, we'll have to go the alternative rout. I'll probably steer clear of the shamanic soul retrieval that I tried in the '90's when I was experiencing chronic pain.

Anyway, I can't even think of getting my prostate looked at. The procedure just to get a second opinion is $500 out of pocket. Then if I need another surgery ...

I'm having to get some financial assistance from my mom, who's not rich by any means. BTW, she's a very competent pianist, currently without a piano, and I'm trying to convince her to get the PX-330 or a similar model.

Thanks for your best wishes too, Ian.

According to Casio, the key bed and several of the voices are the same on the PX-130. So the PX-130 is good for someone who wants piano and no other nonsense.

I wanted to ask Linda, if she's gotten beyond my health complaints, what other voices she likes on the PX-330 beyond the grand pianos. The PX-130 has two excellent grand pianos and two excellent electric pianos (and one bad one imo). The two organs (including a B3 type) and strings are great too, but I don't know how to play organ without accompaniment ... strings as well.

Hi Beakybird!

My tastes are different from others but I love the guitar tones and the breathy saxes - I also own the Casio WK-7500 and while those tones are well done and some appear to be similar the PX330 sounds better to me. Could be my ears though. I know George Kaye has better ears than me and might be able to comment as he has these side by side in his store.

-Linda

Beaky, now that you will have MIDI, you will also have the option of getting a Roland BK-7M, or you can hook up to your S910 ( I used a P-85) to give you all those great Yamaha pianos/electric pianos/guitars etc....and, you can take advantage of the audio recorder as well...not to mention the styles.

I can't imagine not having an 88-note weighted action instrument, especially with today's affordability of these great lightweight pianos with MIDI features...plus, as you say, playing piano gives you a different, and always interesting, perspective.

Ian

Beaky-

Look this over, explore some of the links and perhaps you might be able to improve your situation...

Good luck...

http://www.whitehouse.gov/healthreform/timeline

Thanks. There's very little that's helpful for people like me so far. I complained about the last rate increase, and I found out that since it was announced in December of last year, it wasn't covered by the new law.

It looks like they're supposed to spend 80% on care. Since their a small company, they can probably ask for an exemption and they'll probably get one.

There's nothing in there that's going to get my wife physical therapy until 2014 ... if the law is still on the books.

There was a change in tax code not mentioned above that allows self-employed taxpayers to deduct their health insurance premiums against their self-employment income before calculating the payroll taxes. http://www.guampdn.com/article/20110410/NEWS01/104100307

Beaky.....are you aware that hospitals charge insurance companies a different rate than they charge people like yourself? And that, if you're paying out-of-pocket, most hospitals will negotiate to a lesser fee rather than not get their money at all. That's what hospitals "don't want you to know!"

Thanks. I will negotiate hard, and send pictures of my family in rags.

For those interested in the keyboard part of this thread, I picked up the optional wooden stand and three footswitches for this keyboard.

I'll review it when I get it and play it for a while.