I own an A100 at the moment as you probably might have noticed. I intentionally did not upgrade to any of the already-in-market Alpha bodies since there were signs that Sony would be introducing new series of different levels. The A700 is at a good price in Istanbul at the moment and the A900 is down to a more reasonable price also and the features for both of the cameras have their attractive sides but since there are new bodies to be offered rather soon I'll be considering every single one until I make decisions to further my Alpha investment.
I read about the many problems and quality-check deficiencies of the A700 and others too. Naturally, I developed a more suspicious approach to the whole system but somehow I never suffered any of these problems with my A100. The A100 has its own limitations of high ISO but it never gave me any worries at all. This may be because I have a good sample and I already shot 15,000 and more photos with it and there still are no signs of degradation or failure or any signs of wear-and-tear on the body. I take care of it but it is still in the same good condition it was the day I purchased it.
Therefore, I'm a little more optimistic about the Alpha generations to come. But whatever will make you happy with your photography and road trips to different destinations in general will be part of your life, there's no doubt about that. Hopefully, history will not repeat itself with the other brands you may be going with.
Good luck!
I like the A700 more though. I can still use it, but it is more and more frustrating since I can't depend on it to work quickly. For example, I might change the ISO from 160 to 200, but instead it jumps to 800. Or, change the f-stop from f4 to f4.5, but instead it jumps to f11. Scrolling through menus also sometimes jump way ahead. Anything that uses the control wheel can randomly just jump way ahead or behind. If you look at that thread I posted the link to you will see that many people have the problem. A couple of months after I started that thread there were one or two other threads people started about the same problem. It is clear to me after using multiple FSLRs and DSLRs with control wheels all without problems that the A700 alone has a design or quality control defect. Some people have sent theirs into Sony and didn't get the problem fixed. I have had a real hard time sending mine in since the problem started a few months ago because I have been on the move and have no address for Sony to return the camera to. My camera warranty expired about 2 months after the problem started. I called Sony before the warranty expired and explained the situation. I got elevated to a supervisor and she told me I could send it in after the warranty expired, but I still haven't been able to do that. From reports it isn't clear at all that sending it in would help much anyway. All of this in the thread.
