i just obtain my octane licence and jump to test it. So here is my first try at it with an old model of mine.

For the CONS
_ I must say honestly that i'm a bit disapointed by the way octane handle dielectric material due to the lack of transmitance ; don't know if it is the correct word but for me glass material and shinny metals don't behave like that at all.
Regarding the picture above, i would say that it is a correct raytracing render.
_ Quite odd camera handling ( aperture and F-stop are the same for me, lacking shutter speed so quite hard to mimic real life light management )
Don't want to be

For the PRO
Nice nodal interface
Decent speed (for a very small scene)
Encouraging direction for a beta version
Very good price versus quality.
jacques
http://jdcreation.free.fr