lightroom vs photoshop/dpp

Ive been thinking about getting Lightroom, curently I am using Photoshop 7.0 or DPP. I thought I would go to some of you guys who have used all of these programs to tell me why I should or shouldnt get Lightroom. What is Lightroom capable of doing that Photoshop or DPP cant do. As far as I know Lightroom is 300 bucks and would like to know if it is worth the money. Thanks for your input

Just my opinion but I've have always found DPP very lacking but on the other hand its free for Canon users.

Pretty sure you can get LR cheaper than that.

Lightroom is $300.00 retail. You might be able to find it cheaper online somewhere, but not likely by much. There is an education discount available, but I'm not sure what the cost is. If you are a NAPP (http://www.photoshopus​er.com) member, you get Lightroom for $200.00 for a limited time.

I love Lightroom, but be warned that as a new program, it's not without its shortcomings. However, the latest version, 1.1, is a great improvement (for most) over the initial release.

Check Adobe Forums (http://www.adobeforums​.com/cgi-bin/webx/.3bc2cf0a/) for more details and lots of discussion on the software.

Knowing what I know now, I would probably spend the money on CS3 upgrades as I use iView Media Pro for my DAM solution. You get the same RAW engine in CS3 as you do LR but the user interface is much different. It really depends on what you are wanting to do with it. If you are looking at just a RAW converter then CS3, imo, is the better purchase. DPP does excellent job of RAW conversions but its user interface stinks, big time.

There is lots of info on the Adobe site about what LR can do for you.

Lightroom goes unused on my machines. CS3 is always loaded.