This is just my unprofessional opinion here and I may be totally wrong but...
11 years ago when I bought my bike, Alivio was sort of higher end stuff, Deore was top of the line.
Now Alivio is considered budget, Deore is middle of the road and it goes up from there. I have Alivio, I've maintained it, cleaned it, lubed it, crashed it and it still to this day works VERY well. I wonder if Alivio is such a bad thing for the recreational rider? i'm sure tecno advances are great, but will the non-racer, non 30 miles a day, non cliff hucking 7 days a week off road user ever see the difference? I really don't think so.
I can't comment on shocks as I'm out of the loop, but are lockouts *really* necessary for riding a road or even most recreational single track? I have some of the first shocks made, they still work fine (I'm sure there's better, but I'm not training for races) for my riding and I don't need to lock them out to ride gravel paths or roads.
I think the hype of marketing is seriously starting to cloud consumers judgement in biking...Are we being sold more than we really need?
If you are a Pro racer it's one thing. If you are a recreational rider doing roads and single track on the weekends at human pace and risk, it's another. The middle of the road $500 +/- bikes and their components will last very well if not abused and well taken care of. Just my 2 cents after taking a more than few years off from this sport and returning recently to see what seems like overkill in some areas of the component dept.
I think if you are buying a reputable name, with Deore or even Alivio components (if it fits your budget) that have been around for 10+ years you're OK. 10 years ago racers raced on Alivio stuff and did just fine...but you're not racing, are you? It seems what to watch out for are the cheesy suspension and braking components/marketing gimmicks (especially braking, cheap-o disc brakes for one) these days. Am I incorrect?
So, it seems like the advice to a college kid like Txaggie would be save the 10% and take the 05 model b/c the Alivio components are good enough for a recreational rider and a lock out is not really needed, right?
We all like to dream we're making the 10' drops and riding downhills like a Pro...but how many *really* are?
I think not as many who like to think they are...
Have fun.
P.S. I know there are many pros and even amatuer riders here with serious skills...and are not to be confused with the run of the mill weekend warrior, like myself and many of the "about $500 bike" thread posters I'm typing about
