Which keyboard would you recommend

[BosworthBear]

DD is about to begin piano lessons at school, we dont have a piano but are thinking of buying a keyboard. Which do you recommend and why please? should I wait and buy a piano later if she gets on well - but then she wont be able to pracise much - what do you think?

Piano and keyboard are two seperate entities imo

Hi BosworthBear, not sure I can make any useful recommendations but not sure it's helpful to just point out that piano and keyboard are separate entities.
How old is DD? And are you sure she's really going to take to it? Our DS is 6 and the answer to the latter is No. So, a piano will cost a lot of money and is immoveable. A keyboard is cheap and can be shifted easily. Also provides an element of entertainment so it's not all work no pleasure for a child.

Is there anything wrong with buying a £100 Yamaha keyboard from Toys R Us?

or argos,
had a meeting re keyboard lessons recently teacher said just make sure keys are proper size, not miniature.

can you ask teacher what you need?

I am trying to ask teacher but she is unfortunately ill at the moment and not at school. The ones that I looked at were from Argos (could use Nectar points!) as I was hoping to pay in the £80 - £140 bracket def no more at this stage.
DD is 6.5 and has been assessed as "suitable" to start, many others at this age are having to wait, something to do with long fingers and concentration not musical ability!!! So hence I have no intention of going down the piano route yet!!
As you said it is portable and DS should also get some fun out of it but I will be adding headphones to my wish list!

Any particular models recommended please?

the teacher also suggested a second hand one, but this was for actual keyboard lessons rather than piano.
does the teacher come from the schools music service, in that case, is there anotehr teacher who could advise?

My DS1 started piano lessons at school a year ago. I didn't want to buy a keyboard for home in case he didn't like lessons, so piano teacher advised us to hire from our local county council (Essex) which hires out various instruments. Our keyboard is £20 a term. Hope this helps.

£20 a term!!! It's rude not to at that price. Will be asking our school if they do a similar thing tomorrow.

If you've got the space then a second hand piano is often cheaper - and I see quite a few on freecycle. If you don't want to get one then get a keyboard that's touch-sensitive - will make the transition to piano easier.

Oooh, I'd love a proper piano but could never get it in my car