Should I have my image quality on highest setting?

I have a Nikon D3000 and its a very nice camera. What I was wondering is that all this time i've been taking pictures with the option fine, but then i noticed i have another option for even better pictures, but it is 17mb per picture. I was just wondering if i should put it on the highest option to get the best pictures… The option is RAW + B or also known as NEF (RAW) + JPEG Basic… Best answer max points!@!

RAW isn't going to give you higher quality pictures. It's just a format that records everything the camera "sees" instead of compressing it like saving JPEGs does.

Chances are that you probably don't even have the software you would need to process RAW files, so just stick with what you're using now.

I always shoot in RAW mode (no jpeg compression) but not always the highest resolution. I have the Panasonic LUMIX FC150K since November. Prior to that, the FC100K which I sold to a friend, and this paid about 1/2 the new camera cost. I shoot 3264 x 2448 8M. I can shoot RAW / RAW+Fine / RAW+Standard / Fine / Standard I generally make the 2nd file later.

Shooting in RAW will provide you with the most image detail if… You process and save the images as a TIFF (uncomptressed) file.

Shooting in RAW+Basic JPEG will allow you to view the images without needing to process the RAW files.

I use Lightroom and process all my RAW files to whatever the client needs, JPEG, TIFF, PSD or DNG.

The RAW file is left unmolested and the client gets what they need

When I'm shooting sports on deadline, I shoot RAW + Fine JPEG so I can send my publisher a quick list of the top five or six images from the game from the media room. Later if any of the shots are used to make posters, adverts or other printed material, the RAW file can be processed and the correct file type sent to the printer

If you do not yet have Lightroom, shoot RAW+Basic. Use the basic JPEG's to edit (sort the best from the rest) and then process those selected images from their associated RAW files and save them as high quality JPEG's or TIFF files if you intend to have prints made from them

X is wrong, compressing to jpeg will comprimise quality.
RAW is the ultimate format, it records every piece of info the camera sees.
RAW + other is a way of recording a jpeg image for instant uploading while recording a RAW image at the same time for editing.
I always shoot in RAW. Buying a pro camera and shooting in jpeg is a waste of the cameras capabilities.