I’m sorry to be such a downer, but I would strongly suggest against getting either one of those harps. They are both Mid-eastern harps.

I have done a good deal of research, and those harps sound like toys compared to real harps… there is very little resonance and no tone quality to speak of. I have also read a lot of horror stories about people buying those harps and having them come apart, or require adjusting right away.

My suggestion is (if money is a big concern and maybe you’re not 100% sure about making a big investment on a harp till you see if you’ll really enjoy playing it) get something like a cardboard harp:

http://www.waringmusic.com/new_page_6.htm (19 strings)

http://www.backyardmusic.com/Harps.html (22 strings)

If you listen to youtube clips of the backyard and waring harps, the tone is actually much sweeter and more mellow than any of the mid-eastern harps.

I also like the sound of the Caswell harps:

http://www.caswellharps.com/

He has been having some supplier problems, but it sounds like he’s moving past that. These harps have a very nice tone, and he has a no-interest payment plan for all of his harps.

Other than that, I would suggest renting from somewhere like: http://www.harpconnect.com

However this is the blind leading the blind. 😉 Good luck on your purchase! Hopefully some of the more knowledgeable harpies will chime in.

Or order a harpsicle through a reputable dealer like Sylvia Woods (www.harpcenter.com), or someone like that in your area.