I'm very pro-solidworks. In my experince I have found it simpler and a more powerful tool than that of inventor. It's the engineering standard around our team anyway, all the Engineers involved with it use it at work and home so those of us with the motivation to, use Solidworks too. Also Solidworks is cheaper and a more All-in-one tool.
Also
Solidworks 2006 is gonna be out soon, I think i might buy the student version of that.