Is this to good to be true from Meritline
 

Got an email from Meritline offering this package:
Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5
$699.00
Adobe Encore DVD 1.5
$549.00
Adobe Audition 1.5
$299.00
Free PCI FireWire Card
$50.00
Free FireWire Cable
$20.00

Meritline Special Price:
$449.00
Free Ground Shipping

You Save:
More than $1000!

Would this be the ulitmate software package?

I'd have to say no.

Premiere Pro is fine. That's the only thing in here that's any good in my opinion. But I stay on 6.5 because nothing in Pro is tempting, not yet. You can find PRO for about $300 with student/educational disconts.

Encore is a paperweight. Almost ANYTHING else is better. I have that trash on my system. Bug-ridden junk. I'd even take TMPGENC DVD AUTHOR over it, because at least TDA works all the time. Ulead DVD Workshop 2 is better than Encore, and it can use PSD's too for menu creation.

Audition is a poor man's SOUNDFORGE. An update to COOLEDIT PRO. SoundForge 6 can be found for $225, see the DEALS OF THE WEEK link on digitalFAQ.com, in video buyer guide section. Normal price for SoundForge is upwards of $500. They have 7, but it's not much different than 6e with the name "Sony" slapped on the side.

PCI ieee1394 cards are always cheap on sale. I see tham for $15 a lot at Fry's. They often come with cables, or for $10 you can get one. Meritline is way, way , way overpriced on those two things.

A deal if you insist on Adobe stuff? Sure.
A deal if you want the BEST in video/audio? No.

It's probably a sale because nobody really wants that stuff.