Paint programme upgrade?

As I mentioned in a comment I was looking at possibly upgrading one of the paint packages on my computer, I currently have Paint Shop Pro v7 and Photoshop Elements v6.

As PSP is now up to version X2 or 12 as we normal folk like to call it I thought I'd stop by there first.

Just to be annoying they have two different versions of X2 - vanilla or Ultimate. Ultimate comes with some extra plugins and a 2Gb USB flash stick, woo a whole 2Gb, and on Amazon costs a whopping £2 extra so a no-brainer as to which version to go for.

I could download a trial, but first I thought I'd check out the video tutorials and let them wow me with just what this baby can do.

The answer is much the same as version 7, but with a much more 'modern' interface that seems oddly reminiscent of Elements. Okay it has some new tools, a background remover, an object remover, a DoF filter and a HDR merger. Though it's basically stuff I can already do in v7 just buttonised in a one-step solution.

How about Photoshop Elements? Well the latest version is 7 so I'm not expecting major changes - the biggest addition appears to be a much fancier version of PSPX2's object remover. Take several shots of the same subject and then just have Elements automatically switch them out and align them. But it doesn't have the basic object removal that PSPX2 has nor, for bizarre reasons, does it have a HDR merge ability.

I say bizarre as HDR is the latest 'thing', but of course Elements' bigger older brother the almighty Photoshop has it. So why don't I just pick up Photoshop? Full version of PSPX2 Ultimate cost £50, Photoshop Elements - £50; Photoshop - £540.

I'll think I'll stick with what I've got thanks very much.