I've seen Orks do really really well. Some dude I played against before I moved took like 40 rokkit launchas in a 2000 point game, it was insane.
I'm considering getting an Ork army just to catch people unawares... they are great fun to play (even if you lose) and modelling for them is a lot more fun than it is for Eldar (where you can't really scratch build a good looking Eldar model from bitz)
I have thought the same, more time spent painting than playing and they are fun to paint.