i've worked with maya for years (my company writes plugins for it), and i love it to bits; one can pretty much do anything in it. maya cloth is a huge advantage for making clothing IMO because it allows one to work much like a tailor. i am new to poser and haven't moved much content back and forth, but there is software out there to facilitate it more easily (bodystudio and greenbriar). maya also has a personal learning edition, so you can try it out for free before you shell out any money (it'll watermark your renders). be prepared to work hard, wry grin; the learning curve is steep.

that said, i am currently trying out hexagon 1.2, and it is very intuitive, and easy to pick up -- easier than maya, easier than pretty much anything else i've ever tried (and i've tried all the high-end apps). also, price-wise it's no comparison, since you won't be able to legally do what you want with the student version of maya.

i agree with trav -- try as many demos as you can, because an interface that works well for one person might seem really cumbersome to another. try to model the same thing in all of them so you get a decent basis for comparison.