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The reason I bring things into Max is for modeling and more nuts and bolts kind of work. I find setting up lighting and enviroinments etc sort of a pain in Max (when Carara or Vue are available).

Yeah, I think a raytracer is a raytracer.  I don't see anything in 3dsmax renderings that can't be done in Vue or Carrara for that matter.  Some people point out speed as an issue, but once you start using 3dmsax skin shaders and quality render settings, things slow down no matter what renderer you use.  Mental Ray isn't known for speed either.  Vray might be a little faster than average, but it's a pain to set up the vray materials .  you can't use all max materials with it.