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[Tumetsu]

Is there any sense to buy midi-keyboard if I want to learn to play piano? Midi-keyboards are cheaper than real synths so I though that they might be fitting for my budget...
Is 49-keys enough? Do they help much in composing music (for games) which is another thing I'm willing to looking into?

[Audiosprite]

Sure. You can get Kontakt 5 with the free instruments (ie piano) NI gives out and learn by playing that. 49 keys would be okay for a beginner, but I would recommend at least 61. I'd suggest looking for keyboards on Craigslist - my MIDI-compatible Yamaha PSR-225GM was $50, a third of the price of my Oxygen61.

[Tumetsu]

61-key ones are a bit too expensive for me at the moment (I'm looking something under 100€) and I live in Finland so can't exploit too many cheap offers. I have found two possible candidates:
http://www.musiikkiliike.fi/images/detailed_images/MIDI-inner%20box%20.jpg
http://kuvat2.huuto.net/7/d3/705d65fbcbba11bd7f8e2c6910a39-orig.jpg

Any ideas which one would be better? Latter one is a bit more expensive and used but not much.

[Audiosprite]

Try going to a music store and playing on each of them; get the one with the better-feeling keys. To be honest, I'm not a fan of the keys on the Oxygen series. They feel squishy and light, and while you're never going to find a keyboard that feels like a good, real piano on this budget, the most important factor remains how good the keys feel.

[MoritzPGKatz]

Hello,

If you're looking for something to play Keyboards and Synths for game music on:
While I agree with Audiosprite that the Oxygen series feels a bit sloppy, most of the keyboards you get nowadays are okay for this. For your low budget, you might want to consider buying a used one on eBay or the likes.
I always have an E-MU Xboard49 in front of me which is fine for most things when entering MIDI notes & controls, I only switch over to my 88-key workstation when I need a better key response for things like pianos.

If you're really keen on learning the Piano:
You won't get far with a MIDI-controller, unless you buy one with 88 keys and weighted-hammer action. Personally I prefer even the crappiest old real upright piano to the most expensive stage keyboard as long as it's properly tuned. That's what I tell my students, too. At least get some lessons where you can play a real piano once a week. Trust me, it makes all the difference.

Cheers,
Moritz

[Tumetsu]

@Audiosprite
I might do that if I can locate one nearby

@MoritzPGKatz
Yeah, I'm looking for something which I can use for learning to play piano as a minor hobby and perhaps use to compose own music for my games. Both purposes aren't very "serious" goals though.
I know that for learning piano a real one would be superior but I live in flats so digital instrument is must (I'm already conscious enough of my ocarina's sound)  and most synths seem to be more expensive. Also, I'd most likely try to learn myself.

[JackMenhorn]

As has been said already:

If you want to learn the piano then your second step after acquiring a piano-like device is acquiring a teacher.

Weighted or semi-weighted action keys will be useful to you as well.

Any Casio Privia, or other $200-$300 keyboard will have weighted keys and midi-out.  Youll be mostly set.

[MoritzPGKatz]

Okay, so what I'd definitely do in your place is save up some more money, or you'll end up buying twice very soon or - even worse - get discouraged.

The Casio Privias KomradeJack suggested are solid, you don't have to start up your computer + any VST instruments to jam, and you have a headphone jack so you can play all day or night without bugging the neighbors.
And you can buy a MIDI-to-USB adapter if you don't have a sound card with MIDI-Ins, those are dead cheap nowadays.

What you probably won't have is knobs or faders for controlling, or aftertouch. But if you do feel the need arise to twiddle some levers later, you can always buy a little controller like the Korg nanoKONTROL.

[Tumetsu]

I quickly checked some Finnish music online stores and all Casio Privia models I could see were like 500€ and upwards, which is a bit too much for me Found some Casio CTK models, which are a bit cheaper. Most cheap ones apparenty use batteries or separately sold cable for power. CTK-2200 is about 169€ which looks to me cheapest one without batteries and has 61 keys.

Btw, some keyboards have "USB-port" as feature. What exactly this means in most cases?

[1982]

Just FYI, online music store www.thomann.de ships to Finland as well, and has very good service and nice prices.

USB-port in these keyboards means that you plug the keyboard onto your computer through USB-port, and not MIDI-port.

[tipp]

don't be stupid like me and let your dog eat out half of the keys