Hi guys. Finally really to join u all with FCPS3. I spotted some great deals in ebay but I'm 10,000 miles away so I'm very concerned about making a mistake.

New Apple Final Cut Studio 3 HD Retail (MB642Z/A) - eBay (item 130324774854 end time Aug-20-09 19:09:52 PDT) (http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Apple-Final-Cut-Studio-3-HD-Retail-MB642Z-A_W0QQitemZ130324774854QQcategoryZ80245QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp3907.m263QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DSIC%26it u%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D12%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D54#ht_810wt_1167)

Anyone of you bought this?

It may be perfectly legit, but I wouldn't touch it myself. Price just seems too low for a new copy of a $1000 program which was just released...

Possibly an academic version? (the academic price for the full version of FCS 3.0 is $299)

What are the limitations of the academic versions? No upgrade?

What are the limitations of the academic versions? No upgrade?
That is correct, academic licenses (it is only a difference in license, not code so it isn't really accurate to call it an academic "version") are not eligible for upgrades.

The academic version is 800 or 900 dollars.
The upgrade version is only 299 dollars...

The academic version is 800 or 900 dollars.

Is that right? Here in the US the full retail version is only $1,000: Final Cut Studio - Apple Store (U.S.) (http://store.apple.com/us_smb_78313/product/MB642)

I thought the edu version was a lot less, but have not kept up with things.

The academic price is $299 for the full version, no upgrades possible. The academic version is always the same cost as the standard commercial upgrade. The limitation is that it's not intended for commercial use; aside from that the software is identical to the commercial version, although it's always possible that apple includes some kind of micro-watermark on the footage from it. I think that Apple is (as is Microsoft) very generous with their academic licensing, and it would be great if they extended that for home users and micro-businesses. But the commercial cost of FCS3 is pretty reasonably priced.

The limitation is that it's not intended for commercial use

We've been through this before, and that's not quite the case. The only limitation is that you must attend or work at an educational institution. See the SLA here: http://images.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/finalcutstudio2.pdf

Academic Copies: If the Apple Software package has an academic label or if you acquired the Apple Software at an academic discount, you must be an Eligible Educational End User to use the Apple Software. "Eligible Educational End Users" means students, faculty, staff and administration attending and/or working at an educational institutional facility (i.e., college campus, public or private K-12 schools).

I'd agree that the "spirit" of the Academic version is that it's intended for non-commercial use. But it looks like you could do commercial projects as a student or faculty member and not violate the license.

Thanks Boyd, useful clarification.

I'd agree that the "spirit" of the Academic version is that it's intended for non-commercial use. But it looks like you could do commercial projects as a student or faculty member and not violate the license.

At my former 9-5, a teaching hospital, the department I worked for had 2 seats of the Academic version of FCS 1 and that was deemed fair by the value added reseller (VAR) that sold the edit bays to them, even though they edit bays DID generate revenue for the department. Again, I don't claim that this is the SPIRIT of the SLA but our VAR seemed to think that this was acceptable. Again, your mileage may vary...

FTR: since FCP 1.0.2, my own edit bay has run on regular licenses and upgrades.

The academic price is $299 for the full version

Greg, this is not correct. The academic price, as noted earlier, is 899 USD.
You may be confusing the volume license price offered to academic institutions (299 USD) rather than the standard student/teacher purchase price.

Looks like you are right. I believe the full version used to be more expensive ($1,200?). But with full retail pricing now at $1,000 this is no bargain if you can't upgrade it!

Greg, this is not correct. The academic price, as noted earlier, is 899 USD.
You may be confusing the volume license price offered to academic institutions (299 USD) rather than the standard student/teacher purchase price.

My apologies, you may be correct. I was told that the academic price always mirrored the cost of a commercial upgrade.

My apologies, you may be correct. I was told that the academic price always mirrored the cost of a commercial upgrade.

I think this was the case before the latest upgrade. Apple made the upgrading-price cheaper, the retail version cheaper, but academic pricing got a lot less interesting.