Wx Radar: the tilt should have been pointed down into the wet part of the storm, moving the tilt up and down to see maximum return. The decision for avoidance route should have been made 80-100 miles in advance.
AF chose not to upgrade to the Wx radar with automatic tilt, etc., including automatic sensitivity adjustments for lat/long. The newer radar has been available for about 7 years. The Collins WXR-700 on AF447 is a 1982 design. . Upgrades are rare at airlines, except by govt mandate, or extremely poor reliability of older equipment, neither of which applied here.