SEV - to buy, or not to buy?

[Lancefighter]

Heya folks, I am making my first appearance here in the SE 4/5 area. I am new to the space empires games, but ive played Space Empires: starfury, so i know a bit about stuff.

I have recently downloaded the demo, and played out 100 turns on quick start - It was fun, but i could use some help... my main problem is that my opponents (namely the amonkri) decided to do all this spy BS... They keep stealing plans and all that. (i ended up declaring war on them and putting a carrier fleet in one of thier systems)

Anyhow, the main point - Is SEV worth buying? It seems like a nice game, and its a nice change from the Civilization games I used to play.

Also... should I be colonizing every world i can? just spamming colonies everywhere, or build up a few of my colonies, the ones that are habitable, and large?

Thanks, -Lance