Hi,
Is the above really useful for an out and out first time beginner to Cubase as his DAW? Is it too complicated away from the basics or would the basic entry version (elements?) be a better bet. There seems quite a lot going on in Pro 8. I come from a musical background playing piano and singing in concert and chapel choirs so not everything is completely strange. I’m on PC with Win7 64+bit and prefer midi over audio.
Methusala
Thanks
I would say that you could take the statement another way around. Elements or similar is likely to be complicated enough to keep you going for quite a time while you learn the basics. However the basics are the same in all of the program flavours. It is just that the Pro version will not eventually run out of capability as your understanding and desire to manipulate your musical world grows.
You could study the upgrade paths, start at the budget end and see how you go. Getting to grips with MIDI - and VSTi instruments is part of it, but a good understanding of audio events and parts will be crucial, also learning the way audio moves through your system and of course making sense of the jargon.
Have a good look at tutorials at all levels to get a glimpse of the possibilities. There are 1,000s on YouTube.
In brief, C8.5 Pro will be “really useful”. Just more functional than your early needs might require.
I was happy with the free version of CB LE4 for many years before upgrading. My reason for upgrading was originally associated with the increased recording tracks and the extra included VSTs. In the CB 8.5 series all of the version have a pretty good feature set. So carefully check the product comparison page out to see if there is something in a higher version you really need. Remember, you can always upgrade to a higher version and they do offer trial versions too. 
Good luck and have fun making music.
Regards 
Thanks all. I think I’ll start off with Elements and upgrade as the ‘music’ grows. Watching various videos and tutorials, I like the way you can shut down certain pages to create a fairly basic project page so you can see the wood for the trees…" Yes,well you can do this with Pro 8.5 too"…oh, dear, it comes down to budget.
Thank you for your posts.
Methusala