Hey...this is probably way too late, but the yamaha pf85 is pretty old and isn't worth paying too much for. It's not bad, but I would avoid the $500 one. Maybe $250-400 at max...but only based on it's age. It just seems if you are going to go higher than that, you could just save up and get something newer and more up to date. I have one my brother bought somewhere around 1988 or 89 for between $1200-1500 I think. He gave it to me a few years ago when he finally replaced it.
It's a great piano...it plays well. The keys are weighted and feel good. It has very limited voices including two regular piano sounds, an electric piano, harpsichord and vibraphone.. It has built in chorus which is pretty much a waste of time...if you use chorus with sustain it just doesn't sound good...actually the chorus doesn't sound good anyway. The idea is to get as close to a real piano sound as possible, and real pianos don't use chorus.
You can transpose though I can't remember exactly how that worked...it was in the manual which I found online somewhere but I never do it...but it is possible.
Now I know a lot of people would probably say that for $500 it's a steal...which it probably is, but how are the speakers? They don't hold up so well. Not 20 years later. It still has a good output and I do play through headphones a lot and use it for some recording, but to just turn on and play...well it doesn't sound so great anymore.
Live? It's still a great piano. If you are running through a decent system and can fine tune the sound just a bit, you couldn't ask for anything better.
Why would I say save and buy something new and more expensive?
This piano was made for the pre-digital age. Today's keyboards work really well with computers, often having USB interfaces. Some can even be tied into programs so when you play something you can see the sheet music and have it printed out. Most keyboards today (even ones with 88 weighted keys) have a LOT more voices so they are more versatile.
If this is too late, I'm sorry, but maybe it will help someone else.
