[jattersley]

I am interested in buying my first editing package and after looking at all the reviews have decided to get Pinnacle Studio v9.

I have seen it at a best price of £32 at Amazon for the retail copy (ie in box with manual).

However, I have also noticed several copies on e-bay advertised as v9 SE and/or OSM copies which seem to be copies of the software already installed on a new bought PC.

Does anyone know if these copies are exactly the same software as you would receive if you bought the retail version (ie not a restricted version).

If this is the case, is it also possible to download the manual.

Thanks for any help you may be able to give me.

why not ask the pirates direct?, £32 buys you a licensed copy with handbook and product support and means that there will probably be a pinnacle version 10 at somepoint in the future with even better features that you can upgrade to cheaply...

buying a copied disc doesn't. If your PC screws up because of it what comeback do you have?....

£32 ain't a lot of dough...

[melliott1963]

Before finally deciding on Pinnacle, have you looked at Sony Vegas Movie Studio? You can download a trial from here:

http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.co...p2.asp?DID=531

Pinnacle, whilst good feature wise, is notoriously 'buggy', and although some people are able to use it with no problems, a lot of people have nothing but grief with it. I was a long-time user of Pinnacle Studio (since version 1), and eventually got so fed up that I looked elsewhere. I've actually settle on the full Sony Vegas (which is probably well out of your price range), but was very impressed with Sony Vegas Movie Studio which was also 100% trouble free seems extremely stable. At least give the trial a go - it won't cost you anything!

[thebrummy_one]

I would support Melliott on his recommendation. I too decided to go with Pinnacle, buying Media studio (which includes Ver9). It is buggy and crashes regularly. I then also went for the full Vegas software. Movie studio does look an exceptional package for the money.