Greetings everyone,
I currently have the L4 Scholars pack and am considering upgrading to L5 during this current sale. I am comparing Starter, Bronze and Silver. I would add the minimal crossgrade after the package to complete the data sets.
When I added up the books that would be new to me (adding the ones that show the price if bought separately), it looks like this, not including the minimal crossgrade:
Starter would be $61 (19% of gained value of $330)
Bronze would be $255 (14% of gained value of $1,773)
Silver would be $491 (13% of gained value of $3,723)
What would be your thoughts, opinions and suggestions? Whichever option will have to be financed, as I dont have the cash on hand. And of course, if the wife agrees to the purchase at all. Thank you for helping.
Hello
First get the free L5 engine. And the Minimal Cross Grades so that you will have the new datasets and can use the new Clause Search.
Then if you need access to other resources that you don't have in your current library L4 Scholars then upgrade to that package Bronze or Silver as needed.
Lee
L4 Bible Study, L5 Reformed Bronze, & L5 Gold, L6 Platinum & Reformed Platinum, L7 Platinum, L8 Baptist Platinum.2015 rMBP 15" 2.2GHz 16GB 256GB SSD, running macOS Mojave iPad Mini 4, iPhone 6.
Lee Garrison:First get the free L5 engine. And the Minimal Cross Grades so that you will have the new datasets and can use the new Clause Search.
Just a comment on this.
It used to be the case that if you were going for one of the lower base packages and then the minimal crossgrade it was cheaper to get the base package first.
Logos references this in http://blog.logos.com/2012/11/5-ways-to-move-to-logos-5/ where they state:
"Note: If you place your order for a Logos 5 base package and the Minimal Crossgrade on Logos.com, you’ll need to do it in two steps (base package first, Minimal Crossgrade second) to ensure that you get a custom upgrade price on Minimal Crossgrade. But if you place your order over the phone, one of our helpful sales reps can do it in a single transaction."
I believe that this is still the case - though not 100% certain - but if you are expecting to go for the "base package + MC route" it is worth checking
Michael S.:When I added up the books that would be new to me (adding the ones that show the price if bought separately), it looks like this, not including the minimal crossgrade:
When I've upgraded from one base package to another, I've found it helpful to ask the question, "What is the value to me of the most important extra books I'll be getting".
Going to www.logos.com/compare and clicking on "New to L5", and ignoring things that also come with the MC, I pick out the following highlights:
Once I've done that, I also jot down other books which look like they might perhaps come in handy one day. To be honest, none of those look particularly great value in that context, although you may get more value out of some of the other resources than I do. But a big reason why it doesn't look good value, is that most of the value in Bronze and Starter is found in MC. By 'ignoring' MC, I'm taking out most of the value. However, remember that the MC will be much cheaper if you buy Silver than it will be if you buy Starter, and you must factor that into your calculations when determining value. I suggest you contact a sales rep and get a quote for Starter+MC, Bronze+MC and Silver+MC, so that you can do that maths more accurately.
When facing the upgrade deals, I started out the process back in 2012 by not looking at what the books cost bought individually, but by making up prices for them. That way I got a picture of what the value would be for me. Remember that it's symptomatic to over-estimate the value of the books when feeling the pressure to upgrade because the sales period is soon ending. I don't know how soon it's ending when it comes to this particular sale going on now.
I think You can narrow it down to two options: Bronze and then Minimal Crossgrade. Or Silver and no Minimal Crossgrade. The reason I'm saying this is that Silver already has all that the average used needs, when it comes to datasets. Later on, if You find that You out that You can't continue without the Minimal Crossgrade to Silver, it's possible to buy it then. So no need to hurry with it.
Personally I have somewhat much added books and open pre-pub orders and a mid-level L5 base-package. Although I do have an old Original Languages Library which was great value, and I've since added LSJ for $28 so it equals the Biblical Languages base-package. I could use, but have no need for, all the data-sets in Silver.
Much of the value of Silver consists of commentary sets, so whether You need that base-package depends on if You value those. It has for example New American Commentary, and I've seen that the volume on the Pastorals is ranked as the best on bestcommentaries.com.
The Early Church Fathers may be a bit useful, but it's a quite old translation. Personally I've started to value it less during 2013 so ...
Among other things I am interested in Church History and a little bit of Patristics, but I go with new books and the quotes found in them:
Mark Barnes:"What is the value to me of the most important extra books I'll be getting".
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Thank you Mark, you are right in line with my thinking. I didnt say in the post about the specific titles, but you pretty much pinned what I was looking at- except instead of the Institutes being the eye catcher, it is Calvin's Commentary set that caught my eye. And yes, the commentaries are definitely beefy on the Silver (NAC and Pulpit are massive). Also the Apostalic Fathers look nice since now I only have Schaff's history that has any relation to them. I like being able to study the original languages and I have no formal training, so all the help I can get from the software in this department is a great asset. Hmm...I guess it really just comes down to what I can afford to buy. It definitely seems in my case, the bigger the package the better (normally the case also, but not always).
Unix, how did you get LSJ for $28?
It was the same day when LSJ was on a one-day-only Saturday sale. I called sales, and said I was considering LSJ. The rep. said that he can offer me it for $28 on phone only (not email, email was valid for the regular Saturday sale) with the condition that I upgrade my base-package. The other condition was having been a customer for a while. Well, I upgraded my base-package plus Verbum and some additional resources and got LSJ for $28. 29 days later I returned all the purchases but kept LSJ, and got a refund on my bankcard.
(So I ordered more than the condition (although I did a return) so I don't think I was very dishonest, I've been ordering a bunch of things besides these that I have not returned and have also open pre-pub orders for a lot of $, $2,000. I haven't calculated lately how much I've invested totally, but it's surely above $4,000, probably more. I've been a customer for something like 11-12 years but only bought a lot since April 19. 2012.)
I don't mean to boast, I have created a budget which I intend to keep somewhat. It will run over 12 years and it doesn't allow for many times more $ to be used, than the open orders I currently have (a few of which might never make it to production):
Michael S.:Unix, how did you get LSJ for $28?
If You upgrade by contacting sales, contact John Ramsey and tell that referred You! John's contact information is:
360-685-2309 Direct Line
1-800-875-6467 Ext. 2309
john.ramsey át logos d0t com