I'd hang on to it for a few more years.  I was looking to replace my Beocentre 1 with a Beovision 7 and was shocked at the inferior quality of the picture: movement artifacts, poor contrast.  I've bought a second hand, late model Avant instead.  Mike

I love my avant dearly!!  I tested a bv7 32 in the showroom I thought that the sound was not as full as my avant, they suggested that it maybe because its in the showroom!  

Maybe I just want to jump on the flat panel bandwagon! Thats why I am sourcing peoples opinions.

I traded up to a BV7-40 Mk III, and I'm very happy with it.  The technical drawbacks of current LCD technology are apparent, but it looks glorious with Sky HD and Blu-Ray, and makes a very good effort of upscaling DVD's.  Most of my mates have also commented how much better it is than their Sony/Panasonic/Philips equivalent etc.  I looked at the 7-32, but it was vastly inferior IMHO; the new model should address this hopefuly...  Can't make a direct comparision with regards to the sound, as I have the BL7.4, hence I always have my 8000's and BL3 on.

HTH.

Nick

This is quite a big price jump, but we went for a 50" BV4 setup as we weren't happy with the look and feel of lcd. I find lcd to be a little slow sometimes especially when the camera pans across a scene. Also the picture always seems rather flat (lacking in contrast) to me when compared with our avant (same type as yours) which we still have. I definitely haven't been disappointed in changing. The picture is fantastic with dvds and blu-rays (from a PS3) and current digital terrestrial tv channels are not bad at all. Obviously blu-ray and HD TV looks the best which is the real driving force behind us upgrading to take advantage of Hi Def sources.

I have changed to a BV7-32 (MK-III). I'am very happy with it.

My Avant was an old one, one of the first models. I find that the sound is much better than from the Avant. And the BV7 combined with a HD decoder, than the picture is fantastic.

Piet

I think the need to trade up is all down to what you want to watch, both on TV and in terms of external video sources. Standard def still looks like wizardry on the Avant and rather unspectacular on my BV8 & BV4, but when it comes to HD (which is now the vast majority of what I watch) both new televisions outpace the Avant by a mile. I have Apple TV, Blu-Ray, and HD cable television and between them I watch enough HD material that the Avant can't keep pace, however there are plenty of people who haven't updated from standard DVD, haven't bought an Apple TV, and don't watch much HDTV that would undoubtedly be well served with an Avant for a few more years. 

i'm going to put my avant in one of my bedrooms and hook a ps3 up to it , it may be sd but it's still an awesome all in one av system

the bv7/40 mk4 can go in the front room 

Upgraded to a BV7-32 then to a BV7-40 MKII. I would like the MKIII through there are no trade ins in Aus anymore...

Beoaus.

We have a BV4 and two Avant32s.  BV4 has served us well for nearly 5 years.  Only slight shimmers in movies.  Noticed a lot more in latest bond movie.  Avant still favourite.