I'm another newerish 3d user, with a background in traditional visual arts. I did a bunch of trial versions to see what might work for me when I started 3d a few months ago. I ended up getting Vue after about a month of playing with the  learning addition since I enjoy landscape work and it rocks for that. Since then I've gotten more involved in making mesh models and ended up buying MoI after 15 days of the trial period since it's so good at basic modeling and fits well with my traditional media background. I saw Monsoon's review here and thought this program might be able to fill some gaps in things I find myself  wanting to do. I downloaded the trial version and ended up buying the Pro license after only an hour of playing with it. This is one cool program for the price. I don't make any money at this (yet?) so budget matters and this was a perfect fit for me.
For those who are thinking of trying it, one big commonality with Vue is the way it paints/sculpts. Basically it is using the brushes just like the terrain editor in Vue does, only you can do it on any shape surface from any direction. This made it a snap for me to hop in there and start playing.
So thanks Monsoon for pointing out this program to us!