Softbox comparison please - need knowledge to make decision

[mal from cessnock]

I want a softbox for use in my lounge room studio to take half to full length portraits of one model.

So I'm looking around and since I have Paul C Buff Alien Bees it make sense for me to look at their products first.

Here is the link to their range of softboxes, available from their Australian outlet in Queensland...

http://paulcbuff.com.au/cms/index.ph...id=25&Itemid=1

I'm interested in the Giant Soft. I think I should be able to take a nice full length portrait with feathered light and intend masking it for half length or thereby converting it into a smaller softbox or maybe even a strip box. Will this be effective?

The main reason I am asking this is that this range of softboxes is different to the ones I have seen. They are collapsible - a new idea I think. They open like an umbrella. They appear a lot shallower than others I have seen and I am wondering if their shallowness is a deficit or whether it doesn't matter.

Your knowledge may be just what I need to make a good decision.