My Avante arrived just last week!
It has been very easy so far, a few tension issues and I need to test out different threads with different tensions but as a newbie to quilting and more especially a newbie to free motion machine quilting I cannot believe how easy and how satisfying the very early stages have been.
We are going to our dealer tomorrow for a few accessories so I will ask if she has heard if the machine is going to be upgraded or superceded by another machine. I do know she has an Avante in her store and uses it for teaching, rental and quilting so I cannot imagine there is any big change coming.
Good luck with your decision!!