Yamaha PSR-175AD Portable Electronic Keyboard with Adapter

 This item is great but the shipping is horrible!
I ordered on 7/3, but received the item almost 4 weeks later (7/29) after two postponements.

 This keyboard's a toy
I beg to differ with the previous reviews. Before I go on, let me state for the record that I have been playing classical piano for over 15 years, and I bought this keyboard for jamming and multitrack recording (both midi/audio).

First, for those who are confused with the entry level Yamaha portable keyboards, the PSR-175AD is almost exactly the same as the PSR-175 and the PSR-172. The only difference is that the PSR-172 is much more widely available than the 175s. That said, let's analyze the more important features:

Keys: You get what you pay for. 61-keys is quite all right for beginners and for those who want to do some basic multitrack recording. Better players should go for a bigger keyboard, unless you don't mind using the transpose feature. However, I gave this keyboard a low rating because the keys are not truly touch-sensitive. These keys are not sensitive to the amount of force you exert on them -- the volume for each key remains the same regardless of the amount of force you exert on it. Instead, the keys are only sensitive to the length of time that they are depressed (this should have been called a portable organ instead). By playing on this keyboard, you will never be able to develop a feel for a real piano which requires varying amounts of force applied to different keys. Thus I would not recommend this keyboard for serious beginning piano players because it only hurts your musical foundation.

As for the other features, the sound patches are adequate for most users and are rather standardized in similar entry-level keyboards. I have no complaints because most of the main instruments are there and sound decent enough (piano, organs, guitars,wind, drums,etc). There is also an automated drum synthesizer that's been preprogrammed to different music genres (e.g. soul, rock, jazz, blues, etc).

Regarding size and weight, this is a small and light keyboard and I have no trouble carrying it around to jamming sessions.

On a final note, I recommend shelling out a little more (about $50) for the PSR-273, another 61-keyboard which is just one step higher and offers touch response keys that feel and react more like a real piano. A touch response key produces a louder sound when you strike it harder, vice-versa. Further, the PSR-273 is only slightly larger and heavier.

Hope this review helps. =)