I have a '05 GT Avalanche 3.0 and recently purchased a Mongoose Otero Super. http://www.mongoose.com/mtn/ProductDetails.html?id=2603&enc=mtn|6
It's the same company "Pacific Cycles" GT/Mongoose/Schwinn.
The '08 with decent specs not top of the line but not bad is only $800us or so.
Mine is a '07 which I paid less then $700 for and it works really well for what it is and it has a manual lockout for the rear shock.