A quick search of the usual suspects has caught me by surprise. The last time I looked, Amazon had some decent hardtails in the $400 range, and ebay was loaded with some fairly nice bikes (GT Avalanche 1.0, e.g.) in that $ range. Wow. The stuff that is available has suddenly jumped in price, and a lot of options seem to have just dried up.
Your best bet is to just keep checking your LBS, ebay, and the major online dealers for deals and closeouts. Look for Shimano Acera or better / SRAM X4 or better, and avoid anything with less than a 80mm fork (these are very minimal standards, mind you).
Failing all else, if you can get a decent deal on the Giant Revel you could do a lot worse (but that Trek is solidly in Walmart territory, component-wise).
Last edited by scyclops; 07-01-11 at 11:26 AM.