I've been wanting to get a good bike for a while. You seem to know more than me. I'm gonna check out the bikes you mentioned.
Should figure out the type of riding you plan on doing and how much you want to spend.
I still don't know the difference between all the forks and different types of shifters (SRAM vs Shimano) but I'm hoping to learn.
The biggest upgrade I'm going to from my last bike is getting disc breaks.