My experience with the launchpad has been mixed. The chips are definitely aimed at the low power, low requirements side of things; I had a project where the MSP430g2231's inability to clock from an external high-frequency crystal was a dealbreaker. There's also a wider breadth of hobbyist software targeting the AVR.
If you're a hobbyist, it's definitely not worth saving a few bucks if you're only making a few of them and you account for the value of your time. YMMV.