Please bear with the Newbie for a moment... I have found a brand new PSR 420 at my dealer for $350. This is an ancient beast from 1995 as best I can tell, long forgotten, but it shares the look of the PSR 530. Major features the 530 has but the 420 lacks are the XG Midi and computer interface. Both use music cartridges--the catalog for these seems frozen in 1995, too.

This is primarily a practice keyboard for when I cannot play my Yamaha C2 piano, and it has a nice sound and feel for that. However, I am curious about the wonders you all in this forum discuss, i.e. the musical potential of current synthesizer technology, and would like to explore that. Have things moved so far along that getting this PSR 420 a mistake? Will general Midi suffice to use my computer in connection with this keyboard? Does anyone even know still what a music cartridge is?

I realize this is somewhat off-topic, but still I would be grateful for any guidance.

Hi Jimmy
In my opinion, $350 is way too much. You can get a used 520 for that amount. But better yet, don't get anything less than a 530. You might find a used one for $400. And if you can go for it, their current 540's and up are your best bet. Don't pay hundreds of dollars for the old keyboard.
Tom

Thanks, TomTom SF, for your help. I will try to get a quote on a 540 from a dealer, unless you can suggest a better way to shop. I'm grateful for the assistance.