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Best UK price for Adobe CS3 Design Standard?
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I found one for very slightly less, but we're probably talking pence and that's ecost software and it's £889.48 inc VAT. I've never used them so I don't know what they're like. If you find a better one, please post as I'll be doing the same soon. 
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It's a real minefield trying to find the prices, isn't it? There's one place you had to get all the way to the checkout to find the price doesn't include VAT. Then you find one that's a bit better and you look and find it's an upgrade.
Apologies if you know this already, but just in case you didn't, there are two upgrade packages with CS3. You can upgrade from a single CS app. Not worth as much as having CS2 but not bad.
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It's a real minefield trying to find the prices, isn't it? There's one place you had to get all the way to the checkout to find the price doesn't include VAT. Then you find one that's a bit better and you look and find it's an upgrade.
Apologies if you know this already, but just in case you didn't, there are two upgrade packages with CS3. You can upgrade from a single CS app. Not worth as much as having CS2 but not bad.
Yep, ecost is the one that I found (I included the postage). I am already working as a copy-editor and proofreader and want to extend my typesetting capabilities. I want to do this legally but on a tight budget. I have looked into buying a CS2 package but Adobe seem to have been very effective in locking down any ability to make this cost-effective.
So, we've both come down to the same place! Don't know if it'll get any cheaper for waiting a while, but when you need it for work it doesn't make any sense to wait. I did find CS2 for something just over £500 about a year ago but decided to wait for CS3.
I was thinking more that if you'd got an old copy of InDesign CS or, I think, Photoshop CS, they can also be used for a different upgrade path. I have a copy of InDesign CS I've been using for quite a while - I swopped it for an iPod - the person who bought it had bought CS2 by another route. It's registered with Adobe and legal and I can use that. I'm downloading the CS3 apps for the 30 day trials one at a time because I haven't decided whether to upgrade to the same CS3 as you or just upgrade InDesign and use my old Photoshop.
I can imagine Adobe tightening up on anyone trying to buy CS3 by the back door by buying CS2 and upgrading. I'd be interested to know what you do and your impressions of what you get.
I was thinking more that if you'd got an old copy of InDesign CS or, I think, Photoshop CS, they can also be used for a different upgrade path. I have a copy of InDesign CS I've been using for quite a while - I swopped it for an iPod - the person who bought it had bought CS2 by another route. It's registered with Adobe and legal and I can use that. I'm downloading the CS3 apps for the 30 day trials one at a time because I haven't decided whether to upgrade to the same CS3 as you or just upgrade InDesign and use my old Photoshop.
I can imagine Adobe tightening up on anyone trying to buy CS3 by the back door by buying CS2 and upgrading. I'd be interested to know what you do and your impressions of what you get.
I managed to install Adobe CS3 Design Standard from scratch for a total price of £844 in the end (which if I remember correctly is about £200 less than the Adobe UK price and £50 less than ecost). Here's how I did it: I bought a brand new sealed copy of Illustrator CS from ebay for £175 +£9 postage. It was fully legitimate and registered perfectly. I then bought an Upsell copy of Design Standard from ebuyer.com and likewise it activated perfectly.
I think this means I get a few more fonts and goodies because I now have two different versions of Illustrator. It is still a hefty price but at least I have managed to ground it a little and if I upgrade in the future it will be much cheaper.
Ish, if you want to follow the same route send me a message because the seller has another brand new sealed copy of Illustrator CS and I can point you in his direction. Even if you don't want to upgrade at the moment at least you'll have the Illustrator CS installed and be able to upgrade in the future when Adobe might have dropped the price a bit.
I think this means I get a few more fonts and goodies because I now have two different versions of Illustrator. It is still a hefty price but at least I have managed to ground it a little and if I upgrade in the future it will be much cheaper.
Ish, if you want to follow the same route send me a message because the seller has another brand new sealed copy of Illustrator CS and I can point you in his direction. Even if you don't want to upgrade at the moment at least you'll have the Illustrator CS installed and be able to upgrade in the future when Adobe might have dropped the price a bit.