Something I am having difficulty understanding is, I notice a big quality difference between models in blender, zbrush, and maya, for example. I am wondering, if I create a model in blender, can I then import it over to maya and get it to look just as good as any other maya-made model? Or any other combination of programs? I'm wondering if there is a simpler program for quickly generating basic models, that can then be transported over to one of the higher end programs to be refined. Would this ever make any sense or is it easier just to do it all in the same program in the first place?

Part b of why I'm asking this is that I'm afraid of investing a lot of time in one of the cheaper programs then wanting to move up later on and losing all that invested time. So I'm trying to understand, basically, can you "upgrade" the quality of work done in another program by importing it into a better one, and how difficult that is to accomplish I guess.

Because, it is enticing to get started in one of the simpler programs, the higher end ones are intimidating. But if I one day want to be able to start producing better results, I don't want to have to be starting all over again.

I am sure that many other more experienced and qualified modellers are going to respond, but as for my level of skill, I can definitely say that you pay for what you get in a program, although Blender is pretty darn good. I use several functions from different modelling and editing software because some have better sub-routines than others, even those you pay for. The axes for various formats may or may not be so easily changed when moving across software, such as FBX z-y axis orientation in and out of Blender. Collada format tends to corrupt upon import to Poser. Shade3D polygon reduction algorithm appears to have linear scaling, so is not good when polygon count is already pretty low. Those are examples of what I can say, with respect to paid and free software experience and usage. In general, I would expect that model quality should be retained across software platforms, because it depends on conventions in the file formats.

For reference, I use Shade3D mostly these days. I do use also: Sketchup, and MeshLab, and sometimes Sculptris, (and in the past, earlier versions of Marvelous Designer, Houdini, Metasequoia; and other 3D modelling software which are no longer actively supported much, such as Hexagon, Bryce Pro, Anim8tor, Art of Illusion, Carrara, TrueSpace.)

I have never used Blender, but I use Maya and I've also used Max. The differences between 3d modeling programs will be mostly related to the tools you have at your disposal, but not to the quality of models. To put it blatantly, he best program in the world will not turn a bad modeler into a good modeler; and a good modeler can do the same in pretty much any of the more widely used programs (that means, there are obviously simpler programs but mid-to-high-end people will not use those because they are aimed at other kinds of users).

It depends on what you want to do, but I'd advice you to take on Blender because it's free. Blender has a big community and there are a lot of talented people using it. If all you need is to model, stick with Blender but if you happen to need something else that it doesn't include, look for a different program. When you mention other specialized programs, those are designed for very specific tasks, like adding details, retopology or things like that.

I hope this helps.

I'd also recommend Blender to a certain extent, given that it is free and has a lot of features. However, I'd start off by learning how the basics of poly modeling. I was looking for something by Bay Raitt but this is good https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpSAG85Rsk0 The most important aspect of the software is useability. You don't really need that many tools to be any good - having them just make things easier/quicker.