Alistair, I wrote that earlier; if you don't know what you want, then we can't help you with what you want.
I never expected you to be interested in the top version of Maya, knowing that it costs 7 grand. Even the "cheap" version is still $2,000.
Like Stu said, even Maya is not the king of 3D; I was just testing you after you said that price doesn?t matter?
The fact is....and I keep repeating myself....it's what you want and you only. I agree with what has been said here, Maya is not easy to use, but still, some people do use it, for particular reasons. Everyone has a different reason to use a particular program.
And again, I want give an example...buying a car.
If you buy a car, does the sales person tell you first what all cars he has to offer or does he want to know your preferences...
THAT's the whole point. It makes not sense for any of us to say this is cheap, that's fast, that is user-friendly, this has lots of support, this is stable, this offers this, this offers that, etc.
You never took some serious time to play with 3D to find out what is really important for you. Don't let others push you in any directions, make up your own mind, but always be prepared to listen, read, ask and to play with demos, but always remember; people can only advice you if you know what YOU want.
If you say that it needs to have all the options, fastest speed, best render engine and that price makes no difference, etc., I?m sorry, but that doesn't sound like someone who really knows what he wants.
Don't take this personal, because I'm just trying to help you.
Look at me, I tried a lot of programs before I started to use Photoshop; 2 years I used PhotoPaint, a few years I used PicturePublisher, 4 years PhotoImpact and now Photoshop and only now I feel 100% comfortable with what I use. Trust me, I tried Photoshop years and years ago and always gave up after a few days; it was just not the right moment...
My persion opinion is; it makes no sense to come up with a list of 3D products and the good/bad sides, if non-one knows, inlcuding you, what you really want.
Keep that in mind 
Good luck 
