Seconded, Yamaha, Kawai and Roland all make gear in that price range that is nothing short of incredible in terms of quality and sound. Besides the fact that they don't need tuning like an acoustic would and which tends to add up over time.

Just putting in a vote for my Casio Privia PX-S1000.

Ah yes, they are also pretty good, I tried one at a music store here in nl but forgot about it. Definitely worth a mention.

Very few people can afford to blow $500 on something they don't know if they'll commit on or not.

Get secondhand for $100-150.