Cable question - newbe

Sorry if this ones been beaten to an inch of it's life,but here we go anyway....

Equipment:
SN-10
HEQ-5
Canon 40d
Basic laptop (2002 XP)

I just got the conversion cable from Hap Griffen for my N3 connector.
I assume the cable I got was to control the shutter only.

What do I need to do to get the image back to the laptop? Do I still need a card?

What's the opinion out there on: Image Plus, Nebulosty, MaximDSLR etc....

Thanks
Gary

I have been using Images Plus for acquisition and processing for some time. It is quite powerful, and about half the cost of Maxim, from what I understand (or at least used to be). However, it takes some getting used to. It's automated image processing routines get you something to work with very quickly--but from there, it can be slow going.

Craig Stark's suite of software (PHD guiding/Nebulosity/etc.) is pretty good, and much less expensive. It does not, however, have the same top end as IP. I have not used the other products.

Eventually, from what I have seen, both need Photoshop to really finish off the picture.

As for your cable, I don't know. I know the 20D needed one cable (a simple usb cable--provided with the camera) to run the shutter and download short exposures (under 30"). It used another (put together by Hap Griffin among others) to download the long exposure image. The 450 D, on the other hand, apparently uses only the simple USB cable for both functions.

Alex