[DM-MUG] 35mm slide to digital converter

[Bill Smith]

For some time I have been looking for a slide and negative to digital 
picture converter, but until now I had not seen one compatible with the 
Mac. Just recently I have seen a unit made by VuPoint Solutions that is 
said to be Mac compatible with OSX 10.4. Has anyone had any experience 
with slide/negative to digital converters, and particularly with this 
particular unit? I have seen it in a couple of catalogs and on Amazon, 
with the price ranging from $99.00 to $129.00.

I have an iMac I bought at CompUSA in West Des Moines in 2004, which 
came loaded with OSX 10.3.9, so I would have to upgrade my OS. Is there 
a way to jump just far enough ahead without going to the latest and 
most sophisticated Mac OS?

I also want to install Office:mac2008 (Home & Student Edition) and that 
too requires at minimum Mac OSC 10.4. I know Microsoft is anathema to 
most of you, but my having used Word for Mac in a PC environment before 
there was Office 98 for Mac, I am pretty well wedded to Microsoft 
Office.

I have been a Mac user since 1984, but I am not a Mac aficionado. I use 
Office almost exclusively for word processing. And it might be useful 
to be able to see Power Point files that are sent to me from time to 
time. So far I have much of it stashed in a file labeled Stuff I Can't 
Open on the outside chance that I might really be interested in some of 
it.

I will welcome any advice DMMUG members might have.

Cordially, Bill Smith