Hi Steve.

I am more fond of 8051/2 myself.
I have used AVRs and i don't mind using them again. Every microcontroller has its own advantages and disadvantages.

One day i want to try PICs. They seem a bit confusing though.

I agree with you that Atmel does not give neatly written manuals and that they do have bugs. And of course try memorising the names of their registers!!!! Difficult.

I also have bad experience with Atmel 8051s.
They seem to be very sensitive devices.
I have also used Dallas 8051s and they proved to be somewhat insensitive to my mistakes, even when i accidentaly applied 18V at VCC.

I prefer to deal with many derivatives and many manufacturers than being slave to just one.

I would suggest trying all large mcu families (AVR, 8051/2, PIC) and then decide which one is best for every project.

Panos Kenterlis