depending what the budget is of you're next purchase you may be able to discard some progs from any comparrison...unless you can afford maya or max then of course they have to be included. i was exceptionally luck to have had max 8 bought for me by my family......though i wanted it with all my heart it's not something i would have personally spent so much on. an old sports car would have been my choice lmao.

whilst some 3d house make wild claims in their write ups, most (high end apps) have video clips of their diffent features. most list what formats they can import and export. most have tutorials whith tips and tweaks. even a lot of the low end apps have something similar barring the video shorts. i think your best bet would be to print off the blurbs for each one. have a google round to see what tutorials support the product......things like lynda.com, cg, 3d total etc. see what tuts are free and which have to be payed for and what the cost is. look for communities that support the packages...are they free or subscription based. always use the trial version first in tandom with a few of the tuts you dug up. at least you can get some idea if the learning curve is too great and how much patience and time any given app needs. looking at some of the free apps is a must.  as you get your information folderise it then eventually you can make an informed judgement on what your wants and needs are......i love max lol i'm crap with it but if i had a choice while i was doing all that i wrote about doing above i would pick max everytime.

billy