Originally Posted by no1mad

On paper, I really like the Giant Escape line. However, the geometry is just a bit 'off' for me, which I discovered after getting my hands on one at the LBS.

If all of the bikes that you listed are available locally to you, I'd suggest taking each for a test spin. That should help you narrow down the list a bit. You might also want to poke around in the Hybrid forum, as most of these models are talked about quite frequently.