I have found great satisfaction with an M-Audio 25. Hardly a toy and got it on ebay for $30. The less you pay on hardware, the more you have to spend on software like Kontakt (and the zillion libraries) available. I would recommend you visit Youtube and do a search for VST plugins. I have found East West Quantum Leap's Symphonic Orchestra Gold or IK Multimedia's Sample Tank (or if you prefer Miroslav Philharmonik) sufficient for all my voicing needs. Much better than what comes with Music Creator.

Ian,  You said you've purchased MC7, intend to learn music and asked for keyboard recommendations.  You've received some excellent suggestions but please clarify your intent behind the you "intend to learn music" statement.  Does that mean you want to learn music theory, recording and music production, how to sight read sheet music or play a keyboard?  The reason I ask is because several keyboard makers offer student or learning keyboards that have features like backlighted keys or include lessons that are useful to untutored or self taught students.

Thanks for giving me interesting information
 

I would like to know can you play chords with the computer keyboard or just single notes? If you can play chords by holding the keys down at the same time or make a chord by another method. I am a beginner! If I cannot invest in a midi controller or a keyboard at this time, can I still create musical tracks, like playing chords on one track and single notes on a second track with the same instrument sound like a piano sound? Do you have any ideas about how I can use the computer keyboard  to make the piano instrument sound musical? Thanks!

The virtual keyboard included with MC7 is an 18 note keyboard. It can play chords but may be a little awkward. The same is true for virtual keyboards which use more keys notes. The PC keyboard layout is just not the best for music. If you want to use a different virtual keyboard you will also need a virtual MIDI cable, see here for links to both http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/2991556. IMO, even the cheapest MIDI keyboard is easier to use than the PC keyboard and there are some very inexpensive ones out there.

Thanks scook, for the info and the website I will check it out!