I enjoy reading discussions like this, and am encouraged to see everyone doing research. It really helps in making decisions, doesn’t it?
First let me say that Photoshop Elements is nothing like “the real” Photoshop. Don’t think that you’ll get even close to the same capabilities.
Secondly, I use “the real” Photoshop for a very small amount of my photo editing. In fact, practically every picture you see on the Lenspiration blog was processed in Lightroom. I simply do not have time to edit in the depth that Photoshop offers. I really only use Photoshop for in-depth design projects that don’t have much to do with photography.
Conclusion? I view Elements as a dubbed down, handicapped version of Lightroom that puts on a Photoshop front so folks will think it’s powerful. I’ve never used it, but from what I have researched and heard of it, I do not recommend it to anyone.
If you’re looking to upgrade, buy Lightroom now while it’s still off the cloud. Yes, you have to pay for new versions when they come out, but only if you want to. You can use an old version as long as you want and then upgrade to the latest version when you have the finances to do so.
That’s my opinion at least!