Casio CTK-496 Electronic Keyboard with 61 Full-Size Keys and Singalong Capability

my main problem with the keyboard is it sounded cheap and nothing like the real thing. really cheap. i wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

My daughter got this as a present a year or two ago. She lost interest but I used it a lot becuase it has some music built in and shows you what keys to hit to play it. So I used it to teach myself a bit of piano. That was great. The problem is the keys keep breaking. I took it apart and re-arranged the key-sets to move the broken ones out to the little-used ends but now I have broken my third key and I think it's kaput.

Ok, sure it isn't the best keyboard out there, and it SOOO needs a pedal...but I would rather have this one than none at all. It was the only one I could afford, but I would absolutely upgrade if I could.I also got mine @ Target with the stand, paid about $100 for it. I actually didn't realize how bad the sound quality was until I played my boyfriend's $4000 Roland keyboard...dare I say it sounded BETTER than a real piano? If you can buy better, do. If you can't, it does the job.

Our school had previously purchased Casio keyboards. I had to replace a few keyboards and thought that this slightly less expensive Casio keyboard would have the same piano sound, even though it had less bells and whistles. It's piano setting doesn't even come close to satisfactory. Parents, if you are looking for a beginning keyboard, please spend a little more money and provide a better piano sound for your child.
A few of my students also figured out how to make microphones out of their headphones (just insert headphone jack into the mic jack and talk into the head piece --kids will try anything)

Generally, I agree with the other reviewers. This is certainly not the best keyboard in the world, (...)I bought a CTK-496 from Target, for the same price, in October 2005. At that time, a stand and power adapter were included in the box. That, of course, may have been a limited-time promotion, or perhaps Casio is just cutting costs. Target.com now sells the CTK-496 exactly as Amazon does: no stand and apparently no adapter. Anyone interested in buying a CTK-496 should check a Target store, if there is one in their area. They might still have a keyboard/stand/adapter in stock, for the same price. You might also be able to find a used one on e-bay or some other site.
As far as quality, the other reviewers are on the mark. This thing looks cheap, feels cheap, and sounds cheap. I trust only the piano sound, based on a learning CD I am using. The piano notes seem true to the CD. Some of the other voices are fun to play around with, but not very useful to a beginner, for whom this keyboard is obviously designed.
As someone who has always wanted to learn to play the piano, and ultimately the organ, but has no room for even an upright piano, and sparse time for profesional lessons, I decided to buy this keyboard. I have occasional access to a real piano, and can relate to another reviewer's comment about key resistance and sensitivity. I guess this keyboard is best used to learn basic fingering technique, as long as you realize that a real piano will sound different, depending on how you strike the keys.
In conclusion, I would recommend the CTK-496 as an entry-level keyboard. If you can afford a better keyboard, buy the better one, as I suspect you'll outgrow this one quickly.