Can someone explain to me what would motivate me to purchase Dawn? Is she a better model, or does she have features that Vicky 4 doesn't? Why would I or should I use her over any of the other characters?

Diversity.  Each model brings a uniqueness in the way it is rigged and sculpted.  Some bend better, others have better symmetry, others still have better mesh and resolution.  Even though, each can equally be ethnically morphed into other nationalities, there are certain features that enhance or break the convincibility.  It comes down to what will get the job done better and how they perform in the final render.  

You will realize that many users actually render with multiple models just because they are different, not because they are better.  They each have their own quarks.  I prefer to work with V4, however I love Miki4 and I use Dawn occassionally.  But I also revisit some oldies from time to time because they are different.

Dawn is weightmapped for Poser, V4 isn't. At least not officially.

That makes a lot of sense, and I immediately know what you mean about model diversity. I sometimes feel like all of my models look the same (all vicky 4) despite using numerous different skins and morphs.

Is there anything more technically advanced about Dawn? Is she a higher polygon count or anything?

I believe Dawn's base figure is still free at the moment, where as V4 will probably cost you about thirty bucks.

Well, V4 can be weightmapped, but EClark is correct, she is not officially available as a weightmapped item. 

At one time, V4 base was available for free but not anymore.  If your Poser supports weightmapping (Poser 9, Poser 10, PP2012, PP2014) I would pick up Dawn while she is still free.  These opportunities don't come along often; best to act before the offer disappear.

Quote - Well, V4 can be weightmapped, but EClark is correct, she is not officially available as a weightmapped item. 

At one time, V4 base was available for free but not anymore.  If your Poser supports weightmapping (Poser 9, Poser 10, PP2012, PP2014) I would pick up Dawn while she is still free.  These opportunities don't come along often; best to act before the offer disappear.

That's a really good point hborre. I already own Vicky 4 Pro bundle, and I use Poser Pro 2014.

All of you make great points! Thank you for all the help. So far everyone has been very welcoming. I appeciate that! :D

Will morphs and poses for V4 work on Dawn?

Unfortunately, morphs are not interchangeable between different models.  Poses, on the other hand, will work depending on the vendor.  Some work well, others need tweaking.  If you have the "Save as Universal Pose" checked in the General Preferences, you can resave a pose as a Universal Pose.  IIRC, if you click the double check icon at the bottom of the Library, the selected pose will be applied as a Universal Pose.

I've used Dawn quite a bit since she came out. She makes a nice change from Vicky. Most of Vicky's clothes (at least that I have which is a small fraction of what's available) convert easily in the fitting room. Most of V3 and V4 poses work well with very little tweaking. You can get texture transformer to use Vicky 4's textures. So really what do you need a different mesh for if you are going to use the same content? She is a lower poly that Vicky and she doesn't use magnets so she uses less memory. She also has more body parts that allow better bending. And if she's free, why not give her a spin?

Yep, Dawn is still free until March 31st.  Go to Hivewire3d.com/dawn-starter pack.html

Quote - Will morphs and poses for V4 work on Dawn?

In a roundabout way you can get V4 morphs onto Dawn by using the morph brush.

http://forum.runtimedna.com/showthread.php?79163-The-Morph-Brush-Transfering-FBMs-to-other-characters.

 

If you decide to give Dawn a whirl, I recommend Lyrra's Fitroom Helpers and Netherworks' Hair Conversion System w/ the Dawn plugin. Both will allow you to recycle  content without having to spend a ton on Dawn specific items.

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/dawn-fitroom-helpers/100163 (works on both V4 and M4 clothing)

http://www.runtimedna.com/Hair-Conversion-System-2014-Core.html (free, and comes with free Jessi addon)

http://www.runtimedna.com/HCS-2014-Add-On-for-Dawn.html

Ohhhh! Those look cool!!

Actually you CAN transfer V4's morphs to Dawn using the Poser "Copy Morphs" command in the Figure menu. Only 2 little caveats:

1. You have to conform Dawn to V4 like she was clothing, and...

2. There's no telling how the morphs will work or look on Dawn. They WERE made for V4 after all.

 

*Isn't wierd how I know how to do some things in Poser and have absolutely no idea how to do others?

Quote - That makes a lot of sense, and I immediately know what you mean about model diversity. I sometimes feel like all of my models look the same (all vicky 4) despite using numerous different skins and morphs.

Is there anything more technically advanced about Dawn? Is she a higher polygon count or anything?

Dawn has different rigging than V4. There is an additional abdominal bend, and the rigging root is in that section, not in the hip as per usual. On the one hand, this means that you would have to adjust any poses that were not Dawn specific (which is about 98% of them). On the other, the figure is more flexible through the torso, and the root node being in the lower stomach changes how you would animate things. To make Dawn move, you would translate the root node in the lower stomach; this leaves the pelvis free to be shifted and rotated as needed -without- having to factor in the root translation, as you have to do for most other figures. That can be good =or= bad, depending on your skill level and what you need to happen.

Between the new fitting room, scaling dynamic clothing, cross dresser and PhilC's clothing adapter, the available content at Poser World, just about every figure is potentially useful. And the new figures, if enough people ask, get support from the creators of the clothing adapters.  

 

Actually the hip acts the same as in any other figure. You can move and rotate her from that. I think the original pre-release content maker's version may have been different but I could be remembering wrong. Here is a pose from Vicky with Vicky and Dawn. The only changes I made to Dawn were to move her over and place her on the floor. Not all of Vicky's poses work this well but are still very usable and who doesn't tweek poses even for the figure they were made for?

Ummm-hmmm... I see, I see... 

Yes, I have found Dawn to be a really nice addition to my runtime as well and since I use a lot of dynamic clothing, I have found that it is easy to put stuff made for other characters on her without much adjustment at all.

All that is said above is true, but if you value your content creators, the vendors and the free bee makers you can support them by supporting Dawn. Once you have made an outfit for Dawn it transfers easily with all morphs  to Daz Studio by simple export import. And once you are in Daz you're on mamma's street. To convert to V6 and the whole Genesis family is a breeze. Dawn versions for Poser and Daz, and a V6 (G2) version in the same time as you used to make one V4 set before. All in modern weight mapping. Dawn does not lock you in. It can be bough here at Renderosity, at Hivewire and a couple of other places. Soon there will be other figures with Dawn technology. Dawn is the future! Be realistic, You don't use sunglasses from last year do you? Or do you?

 

 

Not trying to put you off Dawn, as others have said she is free and offers something different, but, as you already have V4, it might also be a good idea to download the V4 weight mapped version along with outfitter that allows better fitting of clothes to V4WM.  Both are free at RDNA.