swampdog

I am looking at getting a new moutain bike to get in shape and have some fun. I plan on riding short distances on the road. There are lots of good intermediate trails where i live so I would like to take advantage of them. I will ride the occasional downhill and singletrack. I have looked at all kinds of bikes from beging hard tails to full suspension. I would like to not spend more then a $1000 but i am not stock on that figure. At this point I can not justify the money to buy a good full suspension so it seems smarter to buy a better hard tail then a lowerend full suspension. A few bike I have shown intrest in is the specialized rockhopper comp disc 29er, the rockhopper pro and the rokhopper expert disc 29er. I like the specialized because of the xxl frame which feels better sense most bikes top tube seem to short. I am wondering if full supension is a bonus or a necessity? The bike shops in my area sell trek, garyfisher, specialized, and giant. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I have looked online at way to much and have my self confused now.