No offense, but given your criteria, your budget, and your experience level, I'd recommend against BD at this time.

As you have pointed out, there are several members here who have bought from BD on numerous occasions. However, most (if not all) already had a bike before hand, had a better understanding on what 'worked' for them and had either the mechanical aptitude/tools to do their own work or had the financial resources to pay another for service/repair.

You could take a gamble and buy from BD and pay a shop to assemble it, though I suspect (depending on the shop) that's all they will do- any tweaking for fit will be an additional charge. Nor will you get a free tune-up if you go this route. And warranty issues will still have to be handled by you and not the LBS that you paid to assemble the bike.

Best bet for now would be to buy off of CL or find a co-op in your area. Next up would be to look at some hybrids- I typically recommend the Giant Escape City for noobs looking for a commuter.