Any Keyboardists?

why do you want to start with a keyboard instead of a piano?

I suppose a keyboard is more affordable new, and they take up less space, but there's no substitute for an old fashioned piano.

I guess I really can't answer your question, I'm sorry... But were I to put money out for one or the other, I'd rather have a very old (tuned) piano than a brand new keyboard--no matter what fancy things it could do.

Good luck!

As was said above, nothing is quite like a good quality piano, but if you are just starting out no need to go that trouble or expense.

I picked up a cheapy Yamaha keyboard at Walmart for about $100 a couple of years ago, just to play with outside and have something I could throw in truck and not worry about. I can't believe how well it plays and sounds. While it's not anything like a real piano, or even a high quality keyboard, but it is fantastic for the price. I just love it. I find myself using it all the time.

I've since seen these things in pawn shops for $30 bucks. If I were you, I'd pick up one of those. When you get to the point you can play, invest some money.

There's the cheap stuff, I got this 'consumer' model Casio at a thrift store for $30 or so, and it doesn't sound as cheesy as I expected. Put CTK-48I into youtube to see it and people playing it.

There are older polyphonic synthesizers such as the Yamaha DX-7 (I got this DX-7-II a while back for under $200, looking online, they're a bit more expensive now). The DX-7 is known for closely reproducing the sounds of electric pianos (cue Ray Charles), and they replaced the heavier Fender Rhodes and Wurlitzers for touring musicians. These still don't have a real piano feel to the keys, but the keys generally are slightly weighted to give a better feel than 'cheap' plastic keyboards. They also respond to different speeds/forces of playing the key ("velocity sensitive"), just like a real piano. I think nowadays velocity sense is standard for just about all keyboards above the Casio consumer line.

There ARE electronic/digital pianos/keyboards that have a "Hammer" mechanism for each key that gives it a feel closer to a real piano, but these weigh more than a "regular" electronic keyboard. They also cost as much as a a half-decent used piano. On the other hand, there's no tuning or maintenance (and alternate/strange tunings are available at the push of a button rather than paying a person to retune). They have MIDI meaning the keyboard can "play" other MIDI instruments such as piano sample libraries (these often run on computers running sample playback software such as Gigasampler) and they can sound really good.

While I'm here, there's these books - the first book is in many public libraries:
The Piano Book: Buying & Owning a New or Used Piano
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1929145012/?tag=absolutewritedm-20

For a real piano, each tuning is around $100 and the recommendation is twice a year, though for a piano that's worth the money, this humidity control system is strongly recommended and will cut down how often you need to tune, as well as extending the piano life.

if you really want to get your hands dirty with an old piano (I see them for under $100 at thrift stores, often they're worth at least the asking price, I have a couple in the basement), there's this:
Piano Servicing, Tuning, and Rebuilding, Second Edition: For the Professional, the Student, and the Hobbyist
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1879511037/?tag=absolutewritedm-20