I've had an A100 for a while, and have recently upgraded to an A700, and I really like this range. One particular bonus is the ability to buy some great old Minolta lenses from eBay at rather good prices.

Flickr's camera search is quite handy to see potential results:

http://www.flickr.com/cameras/sony/dslr-a200/

I have to say, though, that I find the SAL1870 a rather disappointing lens, particularly in the poor aperture range. That said, it's fine for a kit lens.