Bravin, I don't have much experience with either company's recent offerings. I'm sentimental about Sturmey Archer, and I could give you some technical reasons why I like them better, but they are very nit-picky and inconsequential. 1st gear being direct drive is why you need a tiny chainring, but I don't see that as a big problem. It just might look odd.

I don't remember seeing Dan's negative comments. I'll take a look. Meanwhile, I think [MENTION=73614]rhm[/MENTION] has been fairly happy with his. Maybe he'll chime in.

My experience:

I just removed a Sturmey Archer S3X from one bike of mine and passed it on to another BF member. No problems with the hub at all.

I've used a ton of AW 3-speed hubs. They are rock solid.

I've used an old S5-2 5-speed hub, which was also solid.

I've taken short rides with bikes with Shimano 7-speed hubs. They worked well.

Citibike bikes have the Shimano 3-speed hub, and it's fine.

Really, you should do fine with either brand, but if I could get a S-A hub at little or no extra cost, that is what I would do. If there were a compelling reason to prefer a Shimano, I wouldn't regret it, either. Just don't get a SRAM hub, because I hear support in North America isn't so great.