Bach
When it comes to new gear, unless you find a really "stupendous" sale, you are not going to find hammer action in a keyboard less than around $1500, and most of them will be closer to $2000 and up. Hammer action is normally limited at least to 76 key, and primarily, to 88 key units. You will have a very difficult time finding weighted synth action (non-hammer) in anything less than $1000, and most of those will be in the $1200 to $1500 and more range. You will certainly not find hammer action or weighting in any $300 to $500 Casio or Yamaha units or in any 25 or 49 key DJ type synth units. I suggest you visit the Guitar Center and Sweetwater Sound and Musicians Friend websites and browse through their keyboard offerings to get an idea of what is available at various prices, but anything much less than around $1000 is going to have, pretty much, an entry level feel to the keys. When Casio and Yamaha say piano style or piano-like keys, they mean the keys have fronts. That is, you can not see or reach back under the keys like you can with a synth style keybed. The extra plastic in these types of keys adds a little "heft" to the key feel, but not as much as actual weighting. Waterfall keys mean the keys do not have a ridge at the upper front edge. Instead, the upper front edges of waterfall keys are rounded like those on an organ in order to make organ type glisses easier and much less painful. You can also use a keyboard's overall weight as a rough guide to the type of keys it has. Weighted (non-hammer) boards usually tip the scales at around 25 to 40 pounds, while hammer action units come in at around 50 to 60 to 80 pounds or more. All prices mentioned above are in USD.
