well you can get a trial version but I think that only lasts for a certain time. I got mine as a Christmas/Birthday present so I didn't really have to pay. But I have looked at their website and it is high way robbery what they charge but you can find other sites like amazon or a store that might sell it for cheaper.
yeah I mean again you can get discounts. Looking at the site now it's $199.00. When I had upgraded from cs3 which was my present to cs5 I got a student discoutn