Even the digital pianos, they sound better than my Lounge Lizard plugin. I also like the overall sound, polished and finished, almost like mixed and mastered, maybe the device does that all by itself. Judging from the sound such devices might even be used to make the music for TV series.
Another advantage is that they have built-in keyboards, so no lag due to cables and interfaces.
The synth sounds are probably not as good as with good dedicated synth plugins, but I use only few synth sounds anyway. If necessary pads can be replaced by strings, which also sound very good on those keyboards.
When I compare the specs of those two instrument categories, they seem to be converging more and more. What are the remaining differences? Built-in speakers?
They all seem to have 16-track sequencers and features like that.
Can one build songs from scratch on an arranger keyboard? I know they ship with many styles or whatever they are called, but can I also build a song from scratch like in a DAW?
They are all made by just 3 or 4 Japanese companies, is any of them better than the rest?
I know that in the past such devices were looked down upon by many musicians, is that still the case?