Side by Side Comparison of: Yamaha vs Best Choice Products

Very nice. I am a learner and consequently, this review not from a experienced pianist. The keyboard feel is very nice. It has an incredible array of user functions, voices, configurations, memory, etc. I typically just play it as a piano. As a learner, I especially like the LCD display in the center which shows the Grand Staff and highlights which keys are being depressed. When headphones are plugged into the headphone jack, the speakers are disabled. One minor quibble; it came with some headphones. However, the headphone jack on the back of the piano is 1/4"; the headphones supplied have a 3.5 mm mini plug. If you want to use the headphones supplied with the piano, you will need an adapter.

As a value shopper, I also look for products that are a good middle of the road in quality, longevity, and features. Because let's face it, no matter how cheap something is if it falls apart or doesn't do what you want it to it really wasn't worth it.

Too many times have I been taken in by price to find out I paid less...for a piece of junk. That's why I really appreciate the reviews on Amazon (and other sites). It's great to have a good cross-section of thoughts and opinions. Unfortunately we still have to filter the reviews based on our preferences and even the paid reviews, but if something is not 4 stars these days, I typically will not even give it the time of day.

With the Yamaha TPG-235 keyboard I am happy to say that the reviews were very helpful in making this purchase. TONS of people have purchased and reviewed this item and about 9 out of 10 people have given it either 4 or 5 stars. That's impressive.

I have discovered a way to keep prices down and still get the product that I want - SHOP THE REFURBISHED AND USED SECTION OF AMAZON! Amazon Warehouse items are usually open box or returned and I have yet to receive something from there that didn't still look brand new. Prices are typically around 15 - 25% off of the new price.

ON TO THE KEYBOARD....ratings are on a scale of 1-10

1. AESTHETICS ** 8 ** The Yamaha TPG-235 doesn't look so much like a toy that you will not take it seriously though it is less appealing than some brands. We have previously owned a Williams piano and it was more sleek and looked more professional. BUT the Williams piano also felt like it was made out of concrete. It was SO heavy. The YPG-235 is light as a feather AND with 12 less keys than the typical 88-key keyboard, it's shorter as well. Which means if space is an issue (which it is for us) then you will like the shorter design. And you will VERY likely NOT miss the extra keys.

2. SOUND ** 9 ** Clearly (pun intended) this is an important feature of this item. If an instrument doesn't sound great it will be a disappointment...at least eventually it will. Going from a Williams keyboard to this one seemed like a downgrade - but it wasn't. It DOES sound less like a grand piano but it makes up for it with it's full sounding speakers and TONS of voices (361 to be exact). There's give and take (especially when you are on a budget) but after owning this now for a few months I have to say that I am completely satisfied with the grand piano sound. My daughter plays the keyboard and I play guitar and they sound fantastic together. We both play somewhere in between the competent to proficient skill levels. I play a Taylor guitar so I DO understand quality when I see/hear it.

3. QUALITY ** 9 ** I would say that the build quality is perfectly acceptable. The keys feel a little cheap and they are fairly noisy when the sound is down low or someone is playing using headphones. But when the volume is set to a normal playing level the key noise is completely drowned out. Speaker quality is superb and that is a HUGE plus with this item. The item is light but it doesn't feel so light that you feel that you are compromising quality at the same time.

4. FEATURES ** 9 ** The 361 voices are a lot of fun to play with. That alone will keep you entertained with this keyboard for the first week or 2. But it's all about the piano voice for what we play - which is worship and praise music to the Lord. My daughter plays some classical music as well and in reality 99.9% of the time the grand piano voice will be used. One feature that's nice is that you can hit a single button to return you to the default voice which is grand piano. It also allows you to transpose the keyboard to different intervals/keys. This is similar to putting a capo on a guitar. Yeah, it may seem like cheating, but it's nice when you are still learning. It does NOT come with a power cord unless you buy the "Standard Pack" (which was the same price when bought open box from Amazon Warehouse). So be prepared to buy one if you get the keyboard only. Also, no pedal but Amazon has some great pedals for a decent price. We have had the M-Audio SP-2 Universal Sustain Pedal purchased from Amazon for about 2 years and it's holding up wonderfully. The "Standard Pack" also comes with a stand which is probably adequate to hold this keyboard but we already had a more heavy duty one holding up our old Williams keyboard so we just used it.

5. VALUE ** 10 ** After researching and studying and reading review after review as well as comparing pricing for anything even close to price of this one, I have to say, you will not find a better keyboard than this one for $600 or less (the Yamaha YGP-535 is just under $600 and is essentially the same product with 12 more keys and a built in base and pedals and POSSIBLY better speakers). So if you are an extremely advanced player then perhaps look elsewhere but I do not consider this to be ONLY a beginner keyboard. Sure it's great for beginners too, but I think this instrument will take you well into the pre-advanced stages as well.

6. OVERALL ** 9 ** Of course there is room for improvement for a $250 instrument but unless you are ready to jump up to $600 - $1000 your search is over.

Hope this helps someone out there and feel free to ask any specific questions you may have!

Col. 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Sound quality is amazing and beautiful. Sustain pedal is impressive. key resistance is great, feels like a real stringed piano. Love it

This is a fantastic instrument! Am very excited to learn all the different functions that you are able to do. The Demo is amazing. If I can make music only 25% as nice as the demo, it will be great! Bought some blank music sheet paper to be able to right down all the different instruments notes. My 80 Mother has again realized how much she loves to play. She broke right out with her signature moves and was not bothered that it is only 8 keys short of a full size piano. It is also light enough to carry.

At the time of this writing (Jan. '14), this package is actually $3 cheaper than the keyboard by itself. The AC adapter is actually a Genuine YAMAHA product, which costs over $25 if you buy separately. The headphones and stand are aftermarket with the headphones being pretty cheap - nothing to write home about. The stand is fairly decent, easy to assemble, doesn't wobble on the floor like some do. The keyboard comes with an owner's manual, plastic music stand insert, and software CD (I haven't used it). There are plenty of other reviews that talk about the keyboard itself.

This package doesn't come with a sustain pedal, but you can get a nice Genuine YAMAHA piano-style pedal for $20 (recommended) or a cheaper square pad-looking one (works the same). You may also want to invest another $40 in a gig bag. Make sure you Google "YPG 235 gig bag" to ensure you get the right size. There's basically only one brand (World Tour) available. I bought mine from the "American Musical Supply" website because they offered fast, free shipping.

Excellent

My 12 YO daughter wanted a piano and I didnt want to pay a lot of money. I ordered this, thinking it would suffice. It more than exceeds expectations. She loves it and is teaching herself to play piano by watching YouTube videos.

This keyboard was a group gift for my three grand kids. Everytime they visited, they always wanted me to show them something on my piano. This is perfect for them to plunk around on. This keyboard is not for someone serious about playing, but it is perfect for a young child to start on.

good stable unit and sounds good also.

We bought this for our 8 year old for Christmas. He loves it. I think I'm going to have to invest in some headphones to go with it, because the sound is really loud. We keep the volume at 3 and I can still hear it upstairs!

This is an excellent product. Quality is excellent the sound is amazing. I bought this keyboard as a beginner for my daughter and it has been well worth my money. I was very pleased with this company, the product was delivered at a very timely matter. It was delivered to me within 3 days.

I'm giving this 4 stars because it's clearly a good product at a great price but I want to be clear that the item I received DID NOT INCLUDE A POWER ADAPTER. This made for a pretty disappointing Christmas morning for my ten year old son who received it as a gift. Looks great but you'll not be playing it until I can locate an appropriate 12v DC power adapter!

The keys have a good weight to them. There's a lot of different voices to choose from and they all sound very realistic. I purchased this to use for performing at different church events. I sometimes look at chords on my phone while playing and I discovered that it causes some feedback from the left speaker anytime my phone is near it. Strange, but not really a problem.
I gave it four stars instead of five due to the sound of the piano. Although it does sound good, I know there are so many other better sounding pianos out there, so it's gets a four for the timbre of the instrument. Overall it was well worth purchasing.

I've been using this keyboard to learn how to play piano (started from scratch). It's been 4-5 months now.

I find it most adequate for my utmost beginner level. The 76 touch sensitive keys are good enough and plentiful. The sound is very good and can reach quite a high volume.
Only downside is that I have the vague sense that some keys are louder than others. This is not THAT annoying for learning purposes.

I suppose that in a year or so, when / if I will have become more proficient, I'll switch to a 88 key yamaha

The provided headphones are good enough. They have not broken down.

Sounds great, sounds like a keyboard and not a piano to me. The headphone jack is located in the back. I wish it were located somewhere else for easier access. The screen is small and hard to see but it shows you what key you are pressing and where the note sits on a sheet of music, I thought that was cool. The keys are touch sensitive so depending on how hard or soft you hit the key, the volume adjusts. The weighted keys feel spring loaded, but the tension is varied depending on how high or low you go when pressing the keys to simulate a real piano. It also comes with a music stand, so when you're playing, you have a place to set your sheet music. The stand itself, it does seem a little wobbly, maybe it's my carpet. I'm not to familiar with stands to have much of a reference. But I do know what every time I want to adjust the height, I have to fully remove the keyboard and hope the spring loaded knob will work as it should. The knob just holds a pin in place and it wasn't very easy to handle.

I received my shipment on time.
The box was in excellent condition.
The keyboard had 1 scuff mark but it came off.
The stand was un harmed.
The headphones on the other hand were completely shattered. I opened the plastic bag and tiny little plastic pieces of shrapnel showered to the floor. The right ear piece was destroyed and I have no idea why.

Edit: I had a hard time finding customer support to talk about compensation for the broken headphones. But, when I did finally find the online chat feature, a representative was very helpful and addressed my concern. I am very pleased with the whole experience. I was a bit bummed out yesterday but today I'm happy again. Good customer support can fix so much and that's what I got.

I really would prefer to have a full, real piano, but cost and size prohibit it. I also would have preferred to have a full sized keyboard, but again, the cost is too high for us. Having said that, this keyboard is a suitable substitute.

I love the display that not only shows a map of the keys pressed, but also the musical notation. When playing in demo mode, you can follow along on the display to see which notes are being planned and what corresponding keys are used to make the notes. The teaching mode with split left and right demos is also handy. You can focus on learning the right handed notes only.

My children love listening to the demo mode and playing around with the keys. They'll need lessons to really sound like Mozart, but my son has already gotten a start with Fur Elise just by watching the demo.

I read some negative reviews about the headphones and stand. However, I haven't had any issue. Yes, the stand could be sturdier and the headphones could be higher quality, but for the price, I'm not complaining. The stand is plenty sturdy and holds the weight well. The stand does not tie into the keyboard, but the weight of the keyboard itself holds it in place. We also have it against a wall which might make a difference.

The downsides to this unit are the large size and weight, headphones, and keys. The keyboard is huge and heavy. The headphones come with a small 3.5 mm plug, which does not match the keyboard plug. You'll need an adapter. The keys are not truly weighted, so it won't have the same feel as a real keyboard. The sound of the keys being pressed is also louder than I'd like. If you are looking for a true piano experience, you'll have to shell out more cash for a better unit.

This product is definately worth the cost. I am happy we have it and it turned out to be a bigger hit for Christmas than I expected.

Great for the money, all that we expected. The keys are WAY too sensitive, and the volume resets each time you turn it off (and the default is extremely loud). But, those are the only two flaws we could find.

As a true beginner im excited to play with this piano. Everything was delivered together, not broken. However the warranty/insurance paper work didn't come till later. So far so good.

This item was a gift and not sent directly to me. I asked the recipient how it was working out and she said it was fine, BUT did not come with a power cord which it's directions specified the user should only use the power cord that came with it. Pretty hard to do when it did not have one in the package.

nice keyboard for the price. It's not a full sized keyboard though. stand is nicely adjustable but a little unstableand I'm always afraid the keyboard might fall off of the stand or that the stand might tip over... mostly because I have four small children.

Sound is kinda poor but everything is great!!! It definitely feels like a beginner's keyboard so if you're looking for that it's a 5 star rating. If you're however looking for a quality keyboard to do shows with and record music, I give it a 3 star rating. This keyboard all depends on what you want.There's also been a lot of complaints about missing power chords. I ordered this in late May (it's currently June) and everything came totally fine.

I purchased this for my 13 year old daughter. The fact that you can use headphones is a real plus. As she is learning, it avoids criticism from her brothers

but for the money we spent this did not come with adapter of any sorts....i had to buy that extra.....not cool man

Ack! Heads up if you're buying this for a holiday gift - they ship directly in it's box, with pics of the item all over it. Had my kid seen this, it would have ruined their Christmas present surprise. Box also was very shoddily taped, open half way on top - so hopefully everything is intact.

So it seems to work fine ... or at least it would if it came with a POWER CORD. If you don't include a cheap power cord at least TELL us! Nothing like getting a gift for Christmas that you can't play.

Just got this as a gift for my daughter the keyboard seems great and just as described.
However, the stand is pretty useless. it's flimsy and doesn't attach to the keyboard.
The headphones are low quality, won't stay adjusted properly and probably won't last long.
Don't buy the packaged version just get the keyboard and find better quality accessories.

I bought this for my 10 year daughter who just started taking piano lessons. I also started playing recently and now seem to be on it more than my daughter.
The sound quality is excellent. It's much richer and sounds more like a grand piano compared to the Casio LK-165 and Casio WK-225. But I gave it three stars because one of the keys did not work; no sound was produced when it was depressed. Also, the feel of the keys are very soft; like an organ. Since my daughter's piano instructor recommended weighted keys, we returned this model and upgraded to the Yamaha P-35B digital piano. It's just about double in price compared to the Yamaha YPG-235, but it may be worth it if you are searching for the "feel" and "sound" of an acoustic piano.

I had eagerly awaited the arrival of my YPG-235 keyboard with great expectations. Unfortunately, after setting it up, I found that a bank of keys, roughly one octave, were not tuned correctly to a "piano" - rather, they rang like a bell and made me jump out of my seat when I played them. The notes were so irritatingly piercing that I couldn't bear it. In addition, the C above middle C sounded dull. All the other keys were fine and when played gave a very rich tone. I know this was probably just a lemon, but rather than chancing a replacement keyboard also having something wrong with it, I decided just to return this one for a refund. I live in Hawaii and the shipping was outrageous, but Amazon refunded me fully, including the shipping! So while I wasn't pleased getting a lemon, I'm very pleased with Amazon's customer service.

The bench is a bit loose.

Very cheap but works

I didn't get my stand with it! Piano is nice though. But really wanted the stand also.

It really was ok. it looks really nice. it just feels really cheep. Im hoping that it holds up well. But I guess we will see. I got it for my 7 year old grandsons. I want to start teaching him to read music.... It does come with really good teaching tools. I purchased some stickers along with this and it really is helpful to help my grandson remember where middle c is. I hope I have a better opinion at a later date.

No power supply included. Should have said so on the initial order. A power supply is needed for the unit to work properly.

The piano is okay for a beginner. But if you want sound quality. This is terrible. The keys aren't weighted and the sound is fake and sounds nothing like it should. I should've expected this for the cheap price.

Very disappointed after a few weeks. Sounded good at first, but then I compared side by side with my Casio(wk3300). The sounds are much better on the Casio which really surprised me. Planning to sell the Yamaha.

I returned it for the sound delivered by the built-in speakers was not loud enough but if I connected it to the external amplifier the sound quality was poor (kind of muddy).

Great sound, but it came severely damaged on the corner, maybe because it was a warehouse deal. It was damaged too much. I decided to keep it because it works okay.

I like the keyboard, but the soft touch is difficult for me, as I have early onset Rheumatoid Arthritis. You really have to bang down the keys. I wish there was a way to turn down the sensitivity. The headphones are cheap.

Main problem:
The main reason that I bought this product is because it came with a stand. Stand was missing all EIGHT screws that it needs to be put together. Now, I have nowhere to put the keyboard because the stand is worthless. I am VERY unhappy. The boxes were all sealed. I had a sealed plastic bag with one bolt and an allen wrench...no screws. wtf?
I believe I purchased this as a lightening deal and I'm starting to wonder about Prime and if it is really worth it If I am going to be sent defective products. I NEEDED a stand and that is why I bought this package.

Keyboard is okay, much cooler than the one I am replacing, headphones are cheap, stand is worthless because it can't be put together. Save some money and don't buy the packaged set.

I was incredibly disappointed. We shopped for months looking for just the right electronic keyboard with "weighted" keys under $500. We bought it and within a month, the display quit working and just shows bright blue. You can't read the words to make the many selections available with this piano. Luckily, my children remembered the "code" for regular piano play, so they can use it for that. Tried to return it but we were just outside the warranty period and it wasn't returnable. BEWARE the "graded-action" keys are not "weighted" keys and it does click when you play. Also, it is not comparable to a regular piano at all. My daughter needs a new one already so she can practice on a "real" piano for performances.

Keyboard design itself looks nice. However, it feels uncomfortable and sounds harsh. Mine in particular has a problem where, you press a key once, it makes another sound upon release. It was like that when I bought it and I just didn't make the time to return it. Although it seems many people have had this problem with this keyboard. On the other hand, when you plug your headphones into it, it is extremely loud even when the volume is set to 1. When you turn the keyboard on, the volume is automatically set to 12 (which is ridiculously loud) so you'd have to adjust it every time you turn it on. I always play with my volume set to 1 because it already has a natural loudness, and even at 1 it still produces a raucous sound. An extremely poor quality in sound. Listening to music through your headphones with your smart phone set to the max volume, is equivalent to listening to this keyboard through headphones with volume set to 1. This keyboard will surely make any piece you play sound abhorrent in my opinion. In addition, the adapter hole doesn't feel like it fits in securely. I also do not recommend giving this as a gift just because it is inexpensive and looks nice, not even if its for a child. With my experience in keyboards, I believe Yamaha makes the best. I went ahead and toss this keyboard and bought a new one. If you're looking for an inexpensive keyboard I recommend you save an extra 50 bucks to get one ten times better.

Doesnt have velocity control, and it doesnt sound that great. Would be much better off buying a midi controller instead.

Didn't come with a power adapter so I have to go buy one?? Not good.

I enjoy the keyboard , it did come with a stand. When I got it though it didn't come with a power supply cord at all so no way to use it. Very disappointed in that

Keyboard has poor sound quality...but it is good enough to practice.

I didn't expect anything amazing but I was very disappointed when I started playing this keyboard. It doesn't matter which tone you use, the sound is terrible. If it were just cheap speakers I'd plug in my headphones and be ok with it but even doing that the digital tones are tinny, hollow, and awful. Other than that it's not too bad. I wish it had come with a sustain pedal, but ultimately nothing that could be included would make it worth recommending because of the bad sound.

I wish I had never bought it. The volume doesn't work. I can scarcely hear it.

I sent this back the same day I received it. The middle C key didn't work. I decided to get a keyboard directly from a music store so I could check it out. Though I was a bit leery of buying another Yamaha, I bought a P-115B. Though the owner's manual clearly states you can play it through headphones by plugging them into either jack at the back of the keyboard, the sound comes through only one side of the headphones in either jack. At least I was able to get around that by hooking the keyboard up to an amp and plugging the headphones into the amp. Today I learned that the electric bass program's B2 key is out of tune, as much as a full quarter tone flat. There is no excuse for such sloppy craftsmanship. I will never buy another Yamaha keyboard.

i bought this and within two weeks it stopped having sound out. No, the earphones were not plugged in!! Returning it now.

I am giving this product only 1 star. Not only did the keyboard not meet my expectations, but it arrived in the most horrendous packaging I have ever seen. The main keyboard body had no styrofoam protection or any other material to keep it firmly secured in it's place so it did not take the commute in shipping well.
This item, although claiming to be new, has obviously been used, or at the very least, returned by another unsatisfied customer.
All of the plastic bags the extra items came in were ripped apart and half-assedly stuffed back into mangled packaging. The box the power cord came in was ripped almost in half, and the stand the keyboard is suppose to sit on is missing essential components and is unusable in its current condition.
The keyboard itself works fine and as far as I can tell has no fatal flaws in it, but I was under the impression that they keys were weighted. They are not. They may be touch sensitive, but are still clicky, dinky, light, plastic keys that do not resemble the feel or weight of real piano keys. It has a decent sound, and lots of little flashy features, but it's main purpose as an electric piano, did not meet my expectations.
I am unsatisfied in the quality of the product itself, the unprofessional packaging which has caused cosemtic issues, and the fact that I have just purchased an unusable piano stand and will most likely need to spend more money to get the missing parts to this stand, or buy an entirely new one.
I do not find this keyboard worth the amount I paid for it, or even worth keeping and intend to return it. I would not suggest this product to anyone.

Got this back in January. Its suited my pitiful needs well. I am not a pro musician just like to beat on the keys when I need to recharge my mood. This unit served me well in that regard. I had no issues with sound, tone, timber or even the cheap plastic feel of it. It does but who cares. With 88 keys I could stretch out my left hand. Couldn't with my very old dgx235. Which is exactly why I bought another yamaha. I have beat the crap out of the 235 for 6 or 7 years... it's still working! Have to play it now in fact. So I got this... It was ok not great but high on the Ok side though. Until a month ago, when it just stopped working. Pay more to fix something a couple months old is just insane. Yamaha dropped the ball with this model and from what I am reading... they know and don't give a damn.

Product was shipped without power cord, when I finally got the power cord to plug it in the metronome kept going on and on. No button I press will turn it off and the keyboard will not play. Now it's to late to return it!!!

Regret this purchase. It came with one speaker rattling loosely inside. Wound up selling it for barely anything on Craigslist.

This is junk! The third time the grand kids played this the LCD screen would not light up and none of the function buttons worked.

This is horrible I just got everything I need for a studio and then just found out the plugs at the back don't work and the usb plug you can't use.. Omg what a waste. I'm so upset right now

No plug was included which led to an upset daughter on Christmas Day :(We live a 20 hour drive away and cannot easily get one to herVery disappointed only due to this because otherwise all seemed great

Product received damaged