Hi treez,
I may have misinterpreted Eagle/Element14's current intentions. I downloaded the 3D app when Eagle first came out with it and tinkered with it initially, but I never used it. Recently, when I searched on the Eagle USA site (cadsoftusa.com), the only thing I found was EagleUp. Based on the news release linked above, I concluded that Eagle had quietly and quickly shifted from its original standalone to the SketchUp version and was no longer supporting the original version. The thread you linked to also mentions that support for the original 3D version may be none existent. It would be nice if someone from Element14 or who was an active user of the original version would chime in.
Although SketchUp has its drawbacks compared to a solid modeling program like SolidWorks, I have found it to be easy to use -- once you learn to make mates -- for what I do. Thus, if I needed a 3D representation of a PCB to assess geometry, but not for precise engineering, I would try EagleUp.
John