Yamaha P65 & the new P85 Digital Piano Review

Our Yamaha P65 purchase a few years ago was an upgrade from a Casio Keyboard (CTK-515). The reason for the upgrade was to let our kids practice on an instrument that was close to a real piano. It is very easy to warm up to the Yamaha P65 Portable Digital Piano. The touch and feel of the keys is really great with its weighted hammer action. It does come with a few options for tones but we are content with the Grand Piano tone. It is portable compared to Yamaha’s flagship but expensive Clavinova Traditional series and Casio’s more economical alternative, the Celviano AP series.

We did some comparison-shopping for the Yamaha P65 before settling to buy from Costco. The very patient and helpful dealer at the Piedmont (Oakland, CA) Piano shop told us that for the next 3 years or so the Yamaha P65 from Costco was indeed our best bet.

The foot pedal (FC-5) that comes included has good sustain capability. The Yamaha P65 comes with several other features: built-in speakers, 2 headphone jacks that allow the student & the instructor to listen, and midi jacks.

The Yamaha P65 does not come with a built in metronome and so we ended up getting a battery operated one manufactured by Korg that works out well and has the advantage that it can be used with the keyboard as well. The bench could have been slightly wider to enable an adult to sit alongside a child. The only other thing that we miss so far is a pull out dust jacket.

Latest Yamaha P-series Update: There is a version similar to the The Yamaha P65 called the Yamaha P85. Yamaha’s warranty statement at their site explicitly exclude the P65 from the 3-year warranty. So, that may be a good reason to choose the latest Yamaha P85 even if the older Yamaha comes with a heavy discount.

Related Posts:

1. Best Values in Digital Pianos (Portable) - A Comparative Review.
2. Best Values in Digital Pianos (Home - Non Portable) - A Comparative Review.
3. Digital Pianos (Yamaha, Casio, Roland, Kawai, Korg) - An introduction for Digital Piano Shoppers.
4. Best Values in Yamaha Digital Pianos (Portable) - A Comparative Review.
5. Best Values in Yamaha Digital Pianos (Home - Non Portable) - A Comparative Review.
6. Yamaha Digital Pianos - An Introduction to Different Models.
7. Acoustic Piano (Yamaha M-460, Cable Nelson Yamaha CN-116, Kawai K-15, etc.) - Review, Best Values, Pricing, & Shopping Experience.
8. Yamaha P65 & P70 Digital Piano Review.
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Last Updated: 03/2012.