Just purchased Photolab-6 2 month’s ago for € 229,- to see a upgrade appear now in my account of € 109,- for the next version PhotoLab-7, but wait it is only fully functional when I add FilmPack to it and that costs an other € 139,-
That would mean when I pay for all this stuff to be up to date I have spent € 477,- in just 2 month’s time that’s completely crazy! (3 years of LightRoom and Photoshop)
And then I don’t even calculate the Nik Collection that I purchased also a couple of months ago for € 149,-
and to be honest could not discover a lot more from that DXO version then my Free Google version.
Yes I don’t have to and can use it for years and there is Black Friday, but I have never encountered such a greedy company as DXO, except for Adobe!
it’s a shame that you only bought version 6 2 months ago. But honestly…it’s up to everyone to inform themselves about prices, product cycles etc. When I want to buy a car, I also research price, features and product cycles. If I search Google for “DXO Photolab successor release” before buying DXO, I quickly find what I’m looking for. And yes, DXO’s model policy, bundling prices etc. are sometimes incomprehensible, but you can decide for yourself whether and how you spend your money.
We should rather be annoyed that DXO puts half-baked software on the market, ignores long demanded improvements, doesn’t get the alignment of WIN/Mac right, doesn’t improve the readability of the UI…
But as long as everyone keeps updating everything is ok, isn’t it?
I’ll continue to stay on version 4 and 5, and leave all the add-on tools like Nik, VP and Fp at my old level.
But as I said, that’s my personal opinion, but it saves me money, trouble and above all time.
Last tip…everyone has the opportunity to try the 30 day trial, and so you would have had until the end of October to test…free of charge.
And from what date before the planned release should that be…1 month, 2 months, 6 months?
PL 7 on its own is certainly an elite version, just like a Mercedes E Class is an E Class, but it can easily cost 30,000 euros more with different equipment.
One more question occurred to me…Why is your anger about price and packages actually a FR?
Of course they have to show the release date (always!) next to the price as well as the cycle time (one year in this case) so new users see at once where they stand! (this is just normal communication!)
But they don’t show that on purpose!
Why do you have to purchase a Film Pack to make a update fully functional? While your version is called “Elite Version”?
but during this years you also can decide to update and miss the right time.
But our discussion will help nobody, and all the people reading this forum have had the informations about the release date between end of September and middle of October…and all is fine
I’m surely not the one who agree’s to all what DXO does, like you would know if you would read through the posts or check my posts.
But I am someone who does not blame others for his unfortunate decisions, but reflects and bases his wrong decisions on them as a reminder for future decisions.
But this quality is probably becoming rarer and rarer.
Yes and because I started it I have to like the way this discussion go’s!?
I have a couple of valid points like:
Why is the release and cycle date not clearly shown when you purchase a DXO product?
Why do you have to lurk around this forum to find out how it works with the licenses?
Why is my version of PhotoLab 6 called “Elite”? Because when I update to version 7 and want full functionality I have to pay € 109,- for the upgrade and a other € 149,- for FilmPack?
When people don’t see that there is something strange there OK I see it differently then.
Yes, and because I started it, I have to like the way this discussion is going!
And that’s just the point…even as a discussion starter you can evaluate other opinions ,even critical ones, without prejudice and not react strangely right after 3-4 statements.
I have some valid points like:
Why is the release and cycle date not clearly displayed when buying a DXO product?
You have to ask DXO yourself, a user forum can’t give you an answer.
Why do you have to hang around this forum to find out how it works with licences?
You don’t have to, but it’s certainly the most sensible way to find out if the manufacturer doesn’t provide it and/or you don’t want to bother with Google.
Why is my version of PhotoLab 6 called “Elite”? Because if I upgrade to version 7 and want the full feature set, I have to pay €109 for the upgrade and another €149 for FilmPack?
This is also a question for the manufacturer, we can only try to explain this from the point of view of long-time users.
If people don’t see that there is something strange about it, OK, then I see it differently.
And here we are again in forum discussion. Ask a question and you will get n- answers. Some will agree with you, some will not.
First of all, you are under no obligation to purchase version 7, and I am not. Second the discount price is good for version 5 users also, so just wait for version 8 if you are so durn unhappy and see if it has FEATURES that you want in the first place.
Also, after 7 was released, an upgrade to 6 come out, so it continues to be supported. Therefore, what burning features does 7 have that you absolutely can’t live without? I saw absolutely nothing; perhaps detailed photo media review(s) in the next week will tell a better story?
More than likely, I will not purchase another DxO upgrade unless it includes pano - stitching.
If you are that bummed out, perhaps you do need to return to subscription software?
Also, regarding development plans, I believe that those are called trade secrets; however; I could be wrong.
The “must have FilmPack” oddness is indeed disturbing. Now I have a question : how many FilmPack / ViewPoint users do not also have a Photolab license ? Why maintain 3 separate products (especially with newly appearing compatibility problems) ?
Consistency among (and within) products has always been a problem with DxO. I think they should offer a unique product including all their know-how at a reasonable price and that would make things much simpler.
The Filmpack and Viewpoint apps are very odd extras (in my opinion). I too fell in to the ‘trap’ of purchasing Photolab (Elite) only to find certain expected features were not actually part of it and had to be purchased separately.
As far as I remember I installed the trial for Photolab, Viewpoint and Filmpack all at the same time and I think that meant all the VP and FP features were thus enabled within PL. Therefore I didn’t realise these features were not a standard inclusion until after I purchased PL.
I ended up buying FP and VP. They have both now been updated since I purchased them and include features that would be useful, but I really don’t place them highly for value for money so I’ve chosen to not update them.
It would seem that one or two of the features in the version of VP that I purchased have now become standard within PL6/7, so may be that will happen in time with other parts of VP/FP functionality.
I feel this fragmentation of PL/VP/FP may often lead to ‘buyer remorse’ and doesn’t provide DxO with a positive reputation in the buyer’s eye following their initial purchase.
Additionally, other companies choose to offer people who have recently purchased their software (let’s say they purchase within the 3 months before a major new version is released) an even greater discount to the latest version than the regular ‘upgrade’ discount’. I find this to be a very positive practice from a customer service perspective.
I know people can search the forums to find out if there is a regular release cycle for a product, but how many people actually do this?
FWIW, there doesn’t seem to be a regular release cycle for FP and VP, so had I purchased either just before a new release I’d have been very annoyed!
So far they only have 139 Euros of my money, and I am super happy. I have version 7, and this is my first experience with the product. Maybe in 4 or 5 months I will upgrade to the Elite version, or wait until version 8.
