Looking for a bike

Jeepguy, there are tons of bikes out there for that price point, although it's a little low in my opinion, but it's a good starting point for a bike. I think all of those options are great for bikes, and it's a good idea to look at the fork, brakes and components, comparing those to other bikes of that price.
Good call on not going full suspension yet too, especially at that price point.
From what I know, Specialized has some great components on bikes, and sometimes better than others at the same price. I guess they have the money and sales to take less of a profit, not sure, but they seem to have great specs for the price. I ride a Kona, and although they are great, strong frames, the components are sometimes lacking. Although, anything from the Blast and up are pretty good bikes. Strong, and great handling.
Unfortunately, I've ridden pretty much just Kona since I started, so I can't give you much help with regards to personal experience.
I think you just have to go out there, take an entire day or two, and try each bike. And don't just take it out in front of the shop. Take it for a good half hour wherever you can get it to. I was hitting stairs, alleyways, drops, anything within a relative distance from the shop. If they don't let you try the bike, walk out. Every bike is different, and so is every rider. I tried a Specialized, and it just didn't work for my height, arm span, style of riding, so testing each bike is really, really important.

If you like to ride hard and fast, I would look at expanding your budget to $1000 and going for a good used bike. You'll find some good deals out there. A $750 "new" bike won't get you much these days...

Walker T

Off the road, on the mind...

I totally agree with Walker on this one. My first bike, before I knew whether or not I would really get into MTB was an $800 bike. After a year, and after some really rough riding, I was breaking pretty much everything on it. New rims, broke a crank, forks...I got to the point where I HAD to upgrade to a better bike with higher quality parts. And if you ride hard and fast, you're going to want to have some solid wheels, and a quality set of forks. I think $1000 should be your minimum. You honestly get what you pay for when it comes to bikes, and if you want something that will last you for a handful of years, you have to shell out a bit more, but trust me, you will save in the long run on parts, fixes, and having to completely upgrade to a new bike in a few years time.

there are good deals on last yrs models around if you search the internet.

Giant has a bunch of bike in that price range that are mid grade.
other thought is Woodstock bikes... they have like a $600 Front Sus bike that is pretty highly rated. thier price is less do to little Advertising overhead... might want to look into one of those....
about the best i can say is do a really WIDE search on the net and go to MTBR.com and read reviews and more reviews.