Hi,
Yes - definitely take the bikes out to ride, but for what it's worth...
For a 5 mile commute in traffic, flat bars have their advantages - more upright means you have a better view. It's not a long ride so the limited position won't be a pain as it would on a 10 miler (you could also fit bar ends later for a bit of variety).
I've ridden the Konas (both Dews), the Specialized and the Trek 7.3FX which I'm guessing is similar.
I went with the Dew Plus. The Specialized was nice and light but I wanted something that could handle a bit more of the rough stuff. My thought was that if in the future, I want something more road oriented, I would get a road bike.
The Trek ran it a close second but the ride was a bit more 'boring' and predictable. the Konas were more fun.
The Dew Plus has better gears and has disc brakes. Might be overkill on a commute but the noise they make in the wet is useful for soaked and inattentive pedestrians
I haven't ridden the Smoke - the difference seems to be it's steel (so heavier - but maybe more comfy ride) but it has wide slick tyres so it's going to be slower.
The Dews also have an abundance of braze-ons and mountings for racks and mudgaurds. However, the '09 Dew Plus's disc brakes means you'll need a disc-specific rack (or disc-rack spacers) and attention when fitting the mudguards so the supports don't foul the callipers. The '10 Dew Plus has modified seat-stays so that the callipers are between the seat and chain stays and it's easier to fit standard racks.
Re the Kona paint - yes it seems a bit fragile on the '09 model but the bike comes with a bottle of touch-up. I've heard that the '10s use different paint from previous years.
One final thing with the Konas. I'm 5'9" and got the 54" frame. I was borderline with the 56" frame too but the smaller frame with extended seat post felt a more nimble ride. However, the frame is very compact on all the models and the cranks are long, so there is a chance of pedal overlap on the smaller frames - where your toe will hit the front tyre on the pedal downstroke if you've got quite a bit of turn on. For me, it was fine with flat or clipless pedals. But I tried some half-clips prior to going clipless and they fouled the wheels a fair bit (the plastic clips projected quite a way in front of my toes). It might have been partly down to my technique - I always seem to push off with the wheel turned away from my down-stroking foot.
Anyway - if you're going for a flat-barred commuting hybrid, I don't think you can go far wrong with one of the Dews.
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...58#post9911858