Comment by ebiester
5 years ago
Expanding on the rule I've heard is when starting, buy the cheapest thing that won't kill/discourage you, and use it until you break it or you explicitly understand the limitations, so that you know what to buy and what qualities to look for.
I rarely am disappointed by this. When I started learning piano, I got a 100 dollar midi controller and connected it to my ipad or computer. It let me know that I wanted a quality digital piano as my next step.
Agree on this being a good strategy. It also does a good job of covering the case where you learn that you aren't actually that interested in X, or are only interested enough to get a particular task done.