[Cheaper keyboards - any recommendations?]

Wow yoozer, great advice. I didn't really know what it was I was looking for, but since I'm going to be using a computer, the Xboard 49 looks great. How important is the audiophile soundcard? Right now I have a Soundblaster; would you recommend I do in fact go for the audiophile?

[Cheaper keyboards - any recommendations?]

I know this makes things difficult, but I really don't have any specific features in mind.

I suppose part of my concern is deciding the features that I should be focusing on as a beginner. I have decent experience with music: I played the trumpet for about 8 years, so I can find a melody by ear pretty well and obviously can read sheet music. It's fairly common that I'll be laying in bed and think of a neat little tune, then writing down the notes on a piece of paper so I can come back to it whenever it is that I get a keyboard. But my understanding of music is completely limited to the fundamental aspects. When it comes to music hardware and software, I'm pretty much a total beginner.

For that reason, I don't need anything terribly advanced. I just need a keyboard that will allow me to conjure up some decent sounding songs. I'll worry about the fancier stuff later.

Does this help, or should I do some more research on different features and find out more specifically what I'm looking for?

[Cheaper keyboards - any recommendations?]

This may or may not warrant its own thread, but I'm going to take a risk and do it anyway.

I've been tinkering with the idea of getting a keyboard and trying my hand at remixing for a while now. I think it's about time I give it a shot. Problem is, I have no idea what keyboard to get. I'm operating on a relatively low budget - probably no higher than $250... you guys know how the whole college thing goes. Anyway, I've been casually looking around tonight at some different keyboards and I'm kind of overwhelmed. At this point, I don't think I can be too picky, but I don't want to pick something that is so budget-friendly that I'm missing out on some important features.

For example, the Yamaha YPT-300AD is being sold on Amazon for ~$130. Definitely within my price range, but I'm afraid it's probably much too basic. Any help on the matter would be much appreciated.