Having had both cameras I would highly recommend the A77. First off you get 8 more MP which is huge, the video is better than any DSLR, the noise at high ISO is not as bad as has been reviewed.
DO NOT BUY the Tamron lens! For the same money or less you can buy legendary Minolta lenses that will give you much sharper photos and better color. The Tamron is junk compared to Minolta. You can probably get yourself a Minolta 28-85, a Minolta 100-200, and a good Sigma flash for the same $250 on ebay.
When your budget allows resell those lenses and get a Minolta 20MM 2.8 ($300-359) a Minolta 28-135MM as your walk around lens ($300-350) and a Minolta 100-300MM APO for your big zoom ($300-350). These 3 lenses will be all that you'll ever need and the quality of your photos will amazing. The Sony A77 has a 1.4x and 2x zoom button so with thgis lens combo you'll be covered from 20MM-600MM!
Read more about Minolta lenses for Sony on our site http://www.abetterdj.net
