The manufacturer's sites are somewhat helpful once you kind of know what you're looking for. They're there to inform, yes, but mostly to sell their product over someone else's. Read with a grain of salt, just like you would most of the posts on here that tell you what to do. I've found, from working in a shop and selling bikes to buying them, that most LBS employees will be a little less biased. Just watch out. Some of them will take advantage of a n00b and put you on the wrong size bike just to walk it out the door. Do your research, check out some manufacturers and review sites, talk to shops. It's not a short process, but it's worth it to do it right.

Before long, you'll be set in your ways and telling everyone that no frame is a good frame unless it's aluminum/carbon/steel/ti. Then you'll be one of those annoying people on a message board that posts crap about how the only thing to get is aluminum/carbon/steel/ti. Or not.