Jon,
You've probably already made your decision, But I'd like to share my firm's experience with those who might have an interest in this subject.
I own a small 6 person firm and have been practicing for 20 years. I began the practice with an Intergraph PDP11-23 and two workstations running the precursor to Bentley. These stations set me back $120k. I had to rum them 3 shifts and primarily used them for plans while hand drawing the balance of the CD packages. Sometime around 1986 we began to purchase 286-10 Dells and AutoCAD. We upgraded at every opportunity and became an AutoCAD shop by 1989. As soon as ADT arrived, we jumped in and continued to follow the promise that Autodesk offered through ADT.
Then I became aware that ADT was to be "replaced" by Revit. In early 2003, I decided that my firm faced a considerable learning curve with ADT and I wondered how much more learning curve would be required to undertake Revit or Archicad or ?... I began my research and finally determined that the learning curve with Revit was in the same ballpark as that I knew I was looking at in ADT. Furthermore, I decided that the "weight" and commitment of Autodesk behind Revit looked like a better bet than Archicad...so on a single day in October of 2003, the entire firm switched to Revit. 30 days later, we published our first job, a renovation and expansion to an ER complete with multiple phases and 3d realtime reviews with our Owner.
We are now a Revit shop. I am convinced Revit is a better "mousetrap" and believe the entire industry will be using some future iteration of a BIM product within 5 years.
Yes, after working with Autodesk products for 18 years, Revit was INITIALLY difficult. It did not make sense. It did not match my work patterns. At times, it was very aggravating for all of us. I had to learn new ways to approach the job at hand and the same was true for all of my staff. During the first few months, we placed many calls to Revit's support staff who were most helpful and grew to know us by name.
A couple of points really stand out after using it for 8 months. First, the clients LOVE it. Displaying their project to them in 3d cross sections of the plan showing "real" doors, walls, cabinetry, etc. is sexy. They can understand and relate to the images. We hear the same comment over and over: " I really like that 3d stuff..."
Second, the program is without question, easier to learn than ADT especially for the less experienced staff.
Third, we spend much more time designing and much less time worrying about the mechanics of the CDs. The reference bubbles/symbols are correct, as is the scale and the plans, elevations and sections MATCH.
Fourth, the program allows us to produce better contract documents. A natural consequence of designing a single 3d entity is a better set of documents. We get fewer questions during the bidding phase.
Lastly, it seems to me, from my experience, that the question is not whether to "do" BIM but which BIM to adopt. If Autodesk will stay the course, Revit will continue to mature as will our understanding of the product.
We must learn to use new programs. I have two decades left in my career and have no illusions about the fact that I will have to learn many new tricks along the way. Ask yourself this question: "Two to five years from now, what set of skills will most benefit your firm... ADT, REVIT, Archicad?" The answer to this question is the crux of the matter.
Jon, You may buy Revit for modeling, but I doubt you will only use it for that purpose.
That's my two cents,
Trey Wood, AIA