Has anybody used Maya? Is it hard to learn? How much does it cost? Do I have to have a beefy PC to use it?

I think Maya got bought out by Autodesk who makes 3dstudio max. I would recommend playing around with the free version of 3ds max and blender (free/opensource) before you pay the expensive prices.

The Maya interface is very easy to use, comared to free software like Blender. The cost of the latest version (8.5) is $1999, so make sure you have enough memory and dual core computer for maximum performance.

Maya is nice.

I was very impressed with its latest engine. Great for modelling, uv unwrapping and animation.

Is there any other cheap and easy software which works like Maya ? .

blender is totally free and has some features that are even better than maya. Sculpt mode for example, and because it's open source, some of the best uv unwrapping algos on the market. There's so much it is hard to do it justice.

Google SketchUp, heard of it but I've never used it.

Wings3D I know is used sometimes by indy game developers.

I spent so much time learning my way around 3d max I couldn't see myself using anything else.

Never used 3d max, the thought had crossed my mind, cos vray looks pretty sweet.

I use maya, that's nice.