I hear that the watermark in XSI EXP is WAAY less obtrusive than Maya PLE's.
Elle, for doing modelling and stuff with programs like this it is almost a necessity to have a large monitor with a high resolution. A larger resolution and bigger screen mean that you can fit so much more on. I have a 19-inch screen running at 1280x960 and I find it's really good . By the way, welcome to Simply Maya (the best site on the net )
Take a glance at my <a href="https://forums.simplymaya.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9428"><b>Porsche 959</b></a> WIP