photoshop CS purchase

[z10]

hello,

I am a web developer and I doing some freelancing. I may do more in the future.

I have been managing using the free downloads of software but I have to purchase now. I need Photoshop CS first.

I can buy it from Adobe for $650.00 or from a website that sells open box software, discount software (http://xenogamybf.com) for $99.00.

I am not sure which way to go. Maybe I should buy from Adobe since this is my profession and it will probably be useful many years into the future. The discounted one is supposed to be identical to the Adobe one, though. I'm not sure..it is a big price difference.

Please give me your opinions. What do most web freelancers do?:confused:

Thank you.

[PcMan]

If I were you, I would straight up buy it from Adobe, if I was using it for a good cause. If I was semi-broke then I would go for the open box.

Enjoy!

[ronaldb66]

IF you're going to use this on professional projects, I'd rather fork out the cash for the official version, including support, documentation, etc. The "discount" version sounds like either illegal, outdated or incomplete stuff, or any combination thereof.

[vinyl-junkie]

Open box software is a good alternative to the pricey, fancy boxed version. It is legal, fully-licensed software too. I was able to buy Visual Studio 2003 that way (they called it bulk packaging, not open box), but it came with all the CDs, manuals, license keys, etc., and cost me US $650, compared to the pretty package version which is US $2000+.

If you find an open box version of Adobe that seems to be from a reputable company, and you want to save some money, that is the way to go.

[z10]

Thanks for all of your replies. They were helpful. I am going to buy the real thing since that is what most of you are advising. On the other forums, the majority were advising to buy from Adobe also. i will have to spend more money unfortunately.

I started to put my purchase through and found that in the end Adobe is charging $50 tax:eek: + shipping.

I'm surprised since I am buying online.

If I buy from Amazon, there is no shipping or tax and it's about $20 less in price also. I am going to call adobe and ask them if the "buy new" option on Amazon will lead me to a legitimate, real Adobe Photoshop. if not-what other online store will. I hope they will tell me. or if anyone knows-please let me know.

thanks again for your replies.:)