Maya might be used by the pros and be very expensive, but its not really a "Gee, I want to learn 3d. I'll start with this" kind of software.

Various 3d softwares I've heard good stuff about in no particulary order:
Softimage: http://www.softimage.com
Blender: http://www.blender3d.org
Cinema 4D: http://www.maxon.net
And of course 3d studio max.

on a sidenote. Poser and Bryce aren't *that* bad to play around with if you're more interested in characters or landscaping on a more.. err... userfriendly level?

3dlinks.com also has a cute little archive for various options. Wether they're all "equally good" remains to be seen
http://www.3dlinks.com/links.cfm?cat...ubcategoryid=2