Well I ended up taking the plunge.... and now I'm the proud owner of an A700

I ended up going for the stock 18-70 kit lens, and picked up a Tamron 80-210 f4.5/5.6 quite cheap at the same time, to also me to play with some longer distance shots.

Been playing with some shots from the balcony of my place to get to grips with things, will get out and about with it a bit more over the next few days to see how I do. Got to say initially I love it though, feels to good and sturdy in my hands, and I love the viewfinder quality. Will put some shots up once I've gotten better!

Thanks for everyones advice on here