Lol, we have the Subie version of the Avalanche, the Baja. If we could only have one vehicle for ever, it would be the one. It's hauled about as much firewood as either full size truck, gets WAY better gas mileage and kicks the rear end of any 4WD we've owned in the snow. I don't know that Chevy's version measures up though, lol.
I would never go back to less than a full size bed now after having one on our truck (we've had mini-trucks and Broncos before). But it does depend on what you do with it.
IMO, test drive all options. When we were looking to trade our last Baja, we test drove a Ranger and a Tacoma. We really liked the Taco, but after reading about the surging issues we just bought another Baja! The fit and finish on the Taco was WAY better than the Ranger and it better mileage, even though we were partial to Ford (as a brand).
Also, if you're willing to drive, check dealers outside of your area if budget is any sort of issue. We got this Baja for thousands less than we would have paid locally by driving about 4 hours one way for it. Same with our last one (that one was more like 6, but it was the color DH really wanted and had only 2K on it-for $17K-can't find one like that now, but even then it was a steal). I found internet shopping gave us more options for less $$.