Casio CDP-230R SR Silver digital piano

General

The Casio CDP-230R SR - a silver-coloured digital piano - distinguishes itself by its combination of piano and keyboard characteristics. It's great for people who want to be able to do more than play piano music, for households that consist of both keyboard fanatics and piano aficionados, and for beginners who'd really benefit from practical features like automatic backing styles. The CDP-230R SR's keyboard consists of 88 keys - the same number an acoustic piano has - which all have a convincing hammer-like response. Just like on a real piano, the lower keys even feel slightly heavier than the higher ones.

CDP-230R: keyboard and piano in one

It goes without saying that the CDP-230R (which comes with a sustain pedal) produces a remarkably realistic piano sound. It also offers 700 other sounds, however, which means you can use it to imitate nearly any imaginable instrument. Additionally, you have 200 automatic backing styles at your disposal that follow your chords - either those of your left hand, or across the entire keyboard. A practical integrated Chord Book shows you which way specific chords are played. If you're not comfortable playing chords yet, you can simply stick to the bass tones.

Practice features

While you're playing the CDP-230R, the possibilities are virtually endless. Recordings are easily made using the piano/keyboard's built-in recorder, and you can quickly store your songs, sounds and rhythms on an SD card. An Auto Harmonize function adds extra voices to the melodies you play with your right hand, there's a pitch bend wheel to experiment with, and you can develop your skills with the Music Challenge game, the Step Up Lesson feature (which allows you to practise individual phrases) or the Voice Fingering Guide (which helps you work out your fingering). It's even possible to play along with your own playlists - just plug your smartphone into piano's the 3.5mm audio input.

• Please note: the stand has only been pictured for illustrative purposes and will not be included.