Jimdoria, thanks for starting off the discussion. I saw that announcement about the Google acquisition and was really curious about SketchUp. 

However, I just picked up Hexagon 2 as a DAZ Platinum Club member some hours before seeing that announcement by Google.

So, now that I know SketchUp won't export OBJs in the trial version, I don't think I'll seriously check it out, because I've got this other new 3D modelling toy to figure out.

Perhaps later when I need to satisfy my curiousity about the GoogleEarth aspect of SketchUp, I'll go grab it....

Eternal Hobbyist