>They look and feel nice. A reel repair tech friend o' mine
>witnessed a number of them seizing up on a couple Royal
>Polaris trips last year. I've also heard they're a bit more
>prone to corrosion...

the great thing about avet is that they arent afraid to improve their products... im pretty sure those are the older models that the people had. the new ones are completely corrosion resistant and they are made to handle huge fish. just see some of the pics on their website, www.avetreels.com and their customer service is just as good, if not better then shimano's. Plus, they are a local company for most of us :)