Always kind of wanted to own one.

I still miss my old Poly61m, sold it for $80 when I moved around 2008. Bad idea.

Came very close to picking up one of the reversed-keys versions back in the early 2000s but $200 for a Poly800 is no bargain today, much less back then.

What I really regret is that the guy who said he'd probably sell me the EX800 he found at a pawn shop for $20 at cost but had to think it over a bit dragged his feet so long that another person who shared the practice space we were in put a heavy box on it and broke off all the knobs, and then it got thrown in the garbage. Lots of stuff went in the garbage back then that shouldn't have, including at least one Juno 60 that was broken but still had hundred of dollars worth of rare ICs and keys and other parts in it. Pretty sure an SH101 got trashed, too, but I can't remember for sure. Might have been sold cheap for parts after it started behaving funny.

None of that stuff was worth anything back then. A bandmate of mine sold his last Juno 60 (I think he had 3 at one point) in 2005 to raise money toward an 80s Korg transistor organ, which cost three times as much as a well maintained Juno 60 back then (I think he paid close to $700 for it). That was around the same time that I could have gotten a Triadex Muse for $80 if I hadn't called in sick to work that day. The owner of the shop wouldn't go above $40 for it so the guy who was asking for $80 took it someplace else.

In regard to the description, they're actually not unwieldy at all. They're kind o cheaply made plastic things and only weigh a couple of pounds. Using one as a portable MIDI controller would be half the reason to get one in my boo, but I opted for a Casio CZ101 instead because it covers more (and more unique) ground as a synth, and is even smaller.

These are just about the last reasonably priced vintage analog synth left, though, I'd say if you want one you should get one as soon as possible.

sure, compared to a Moog Liberation maybe, but I had one too (and a Poly-800 II!), and sure they are sort of light, but still boxy and unwieldy IMHO.

I guess the closest comparison for me (as far as stuff I've actually played) would be an SH-101, and I'd say these are more ergonomic than that thing.

But yeah, they're definitely not a keytar, they're a small keyboard with strap pegs. Compared to all but the earliest keytars they're pretty clunky on a strap.

The Mk II is the one with the digital delay instead of chorus, right? I've never gotten to try one of them.

The closest thing to a poly 800 is an alpha juno. Juno is way better.

Yeah, that's not really even a fair contest.

There's something about the sound of DCO Korgs I like, though.