I still recommend the consumer versions to start with. Most people find that they are more than enough to handle everything they need.
I have Premiere Pro and still use Premiere Elements 80% of the time, it is more than enough for standard projects. I use is for personal and professional work.
Version 7 is stable and has plenty of features. I use version 3 mostly myself. Version 8 is kind of in question because it just came out and people are having issues with it. until the issues are resolved or a solution is found, I would go with the version that has proven to work well.
