Scanning thousands of pics + photoshop question

I'm looking at 3 huge boxes of carefully packed photos, probably between 2-3 thousand pics. I've had this silly notion I would scan them in over time. Right. A few years later plus a bit more maturity = sanity. I'm wanting to scan these, but am now being realistic. Thought I'd turn to this forum for general opinions. Hope you'll indulge me as I wasn't really sure where else I could ask this kind of question except in the heart of a forum that deal with photos + photoshop.
I'm learning there are these companies now that I could send in boxes of pictures and they will scan them in for a hefty fee. I've been doing some research. Wanted to see if there were any photoshop users who have gone down a similar path and could offer some opinions.
#1 - what size do you recommend: 300dpi or 600dpi. I'm biased towards higher quality, but I'm not a rich man.
#2 - Anyone have any dealings with companies to offer opinions on who to choose or not so choose? I've been trying to find some kind of online feedback about companies, but haven't been successful so far. Any idea on where to look for feedback on companies?
I'm open to feedback on anything related to this. I'll want to go through the pics once I receive them and clean them up in PS of course. Any ideas on how to store them, arrange them, maybe some common errors to avoid when setting all this up.
I certainly would appreciate any help you folks could offer.
Thanks,
Robert

I appreciate all the replies. Good discussion, lots to consider. Time is the hardest element for me if I do home scanning. Maybe I'll just wait a few more years for things to slow down a bit and do it all at home. I have two daughters graduating in the next 2 years, getting them ready for college, my career has really taken off and I'm enjoying my work, stuff like that. Just not sure where I'd get the time until the girls are gone from the house and things quiet down a bit.
Talked with my wife about the details of this, I can see me setting up our computer room (the dining room) and converting it from holding 3 computers to my one computer + tables and such set up for a good long scanning season. That will happen soon.
Based on what all has been said about scanners, not sure I need to purchase another one. I have an Epson 4180 perfection. Scans up to 6 photos at once, does high resolution. Not the fastest in the world, but if I'm going to lock into a long project like this, not sure a little boost in scanning speed is going to help me that much. I notice I slow down once I get a neat picture on my screen. I study it, crop, color adjust, fix scratches, etc. I get lost in the restoration process, so not sure the scanning speed is much of an issue. I'll just have to look at it as a long term project to begin one winter when I'm ready to dedicate tons of time.
Concerning lightroom, if I didn't own Aperture already, I would purchase it. Aperture and lightroom do the same things. My only complaint with Aperture is that is bogs down sometimes in the retouching of raw pics. Other than that, its a solid program. If I were to purchase lightroom, not sure what the advantage would be. Also, I looked into the idea of trying to get my pics out of Aperture. My goodness, they have those originals buried so deep in a database, scattered here and there, that it would be next to impossible to get the originals out. I can use an export feature, but wonder if it really keeps the original quality or it changes it through some compression formula.
I honestly still like the idea of sending my pics off to some company for mass scanning, but realize that comes with inherent risks. Those types of scanning situations are more geared towards 300/600 dpi scans, not the high quality scans we have all agreed upon here. That blows that apart. I suppose those are good for the person who just doesn't want to mess with it all and simply needs an average scan for whatever purpose.
Only other question in my mind...I'm using an old mac right now. I honestly love macs. But I will need to upgrade in the next few years as this one is getting old. I haven't kept up with any type of debates (and am not really interested in the long standing grudges either) about mac vs pc. What I am interested in...I notice that pc's continue to get cheaper. Actually, macs have even come down in price a little (shocking). Is there that much of a gap between macs and pc's these days besides the OS? I mean, the speed advantage of a mac in the past was clear to me with audio/visual. Is that still the case or would y'all say the gap has narrowed?
Appreciate the feedback all, good thread.
Robert

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