Would like some input on 3d modling software choice.

Have you looked into Sketchup already? There's so many options and so many variables when it comes to choosing a software that I'm going to be honest in saying it's nearly impossible to give you a good recommendation without knowing what type of OS you use, what experience level you have, what kind of modeling type do you prefer (solid modeling vs. box modeling vs. parametric modeling vs. NURBS modeling vs sculpting), etc.

Perhaps a few common apps that most beginners start with are Tinycad, Sketchup, MOI, and maybe even Blender if you've ever worked with Polygon modeling.

primarily box modelling for 3D printing objects. More function than artistic.
I will look at the suggestions you made.
Thanks

It sounds like Blender is what you want.

If your main purpose is to build printable objects, then you might want to add a product like Atangeo's "Balancer Pro" to your software tools.

Balancer and Balancer Pro are tools that reduce the polygon count of an object to a "manageable" amount while maintaining the basic structure of the model, but also help ensure that the walls of your object have a thickness and other dimensions suitable for printing. Your "work flow" is that you first construct the desired objec in Blender, save it out into a format that can be read by Balancer Pro, import and pass it through Balancer Pro to prepare it for printing, and then use whatever tool the printing process provides to verify the integrity and suitability of the object for print. (And then "print", of course.) Essentially. Balancer Pro will enable you to learn the basics of model-building in Blender, but move more quickly into being able to produce printable objects. Blander and any of the 3D model-building apps will let you reduce the polygon count and ensure the water-tightness and wall integrity of an object for printing, of course, but it takes additional time and effort to learn to do this well. Balancer Pro just provides a good way to cheat until you pick up these skills in Blender.

If you want to keep it simple and also keep it free, Wings3D is about your best option. Blender is more suited to PBR models and animation (although I wouldn't ever touch it with a barge pole, that's just me, especially as it's import and export functions don't work properly).

Maya, Max and Fusion are all a little too expensive for the casual modeller and I have to admit I've never even bothered looking at Sketchup.

It's horses for courses I suppose. Each to their own. One man's scrap is another man's treasure... Ok, I'll stop now >.<