Should I buy Final Cut Studio academic version?

[oxband]

The computer store connected to my university sells Final Cut Pro academic version for 300 bucks. It's the same as the 999 dollar non-academic version. The salesman reasoned I might as well get the academic version since the price of any future upgrade will likely be around the price of this academic version, so if I wanted the upgrade, I could just buy a new, upgraded academic version in the future.

That logic seemed pretty good to me. But I figured I'd run it by other people before I open the box.

 

[Rawn]

I assume you'll actually be using Final Cut Pro on a regular basis?

I'd say as long as you're going to use it, and it isn't just going to sit around entirely unused, go for it! If the upgrade price for the non-academic is the same as the new version of the academic, and you're still a student and able to get the discount, go for it!

 

[PowerBookG4]

Once you graduate though you will not be allowed to upgrade to a new version with out paying full price, so if you think you might want to keep upgrading in the future, it makes sense to just bite the bullet now and save the money after you graduate. This is what I did and now I get the full version that is not restrictive (The academic version is restricted in the EULA), while at the same time I am allowed to purchase the upgrades for upgrade price (have done this twice now) and when I graduate I will not have to worry about paying full price when I want to upgrade.