I purchased this piano without ever having played piano. My teacher gives me lessons on a beautiful 1800's grand Steinway, so no comparison. I didn't imagine having this emulate her piano, but I hoped it would behave more like a piano. The only two things that bother me are:
1. You can hear the mechanical noise of the key being hit besides its sound note no matter how hard or soft you play it, so hearing a "clunky" sound under the note sound is annoying;
2. The sound of the key is continuous, so practicing to release the keys slowly as with an acoustic piano is not possible.

I wish I had known these aspects prior to making my purchase. I did seek help from Yamaha's customer service, but nothing about this was mentioned. Anyhow, the instrument's sound is nice and, albeit limiting, it is a good start for someone like me who is not quite sure whether this will be a life time pursuit. If I grow with time, I'll most likely get an acoustic piano later on. I just hope this electric piano will not hinder my development. I'd say that this is a good instrument for someone who already knows how to play the piano and wants to have fun or perform, but if you really want to learn, I'd recommend getting an acoustic instrument.

As a beginner I found it impressive provided I have no previous references. But I like the ability to practice my lessons in private with my head set pluggined in. I could have purchase a cheaper model, but I figured if I'm going to commit to my music journey may as well get a model I can grow with and not out grow it for a very long, long, long time. I would like to see in the future the models to come with bluetooth already build-in instead of getting the adapter separately. Bluetooth technololy is been with us for a long time now and is already part of almost any smart device out there, but everthing else is good with me. As far as how I use my P-S500, I primarely use it for my piano lessons, make my own music and leasure.

When I purchased the P-S500, I assumed the Stream Lights were a gimmick. It turns out that I use them for everything -- playing is way, way more fun and I'm getting better faster. I am so glad I got a piano with Stream Lights. Tip: there are 16 Midi channels, so you can change the parts you play using the Stream Lights. I wish (1) there was better and more detailed documentation of all the features available; and (2) I wish that you could assign different voices to the Treble Clef (the score for the right hand) and Bass Clef (the score for the left hand).

We love that this keyboard has fully weighted keys. This allows for proper muscle memory to be formed so that we can easily go back and forth between the keyboard and a full size piano. It's almost like having a full size piano without having to worry about space and size, and it can be carried around relatively easy. Since it has a built in metronome, it also reduces the amount of peripheral equipment required. Would 100% recommend to anyone starting out or looking to get a new keyboard.