always remember, elements is the downgraded , simplified version of photoshop itself. if you're in the need of quick fixes to your pictures, auto colour, auto saturation, auto brightness etc, elements will suite your need as they have this function called auto fix ( fixes everything). what impressed me was that feature.
you can just download a trial copy from adobe first to try it out and then head out to buy it if you feel its worth it
ps 7 is old. elements 5 came out same time as cs2/3 so .. elements is much more advanced than 7.0
i have elements 2 , which came out around the same time as cs1. between cs1 and elements 2, elements 2 doesnt have functions like curves and the .. i cant remember what its called .. haha .. few features missing