mikalcarbine

My girlfriend and I are bike newbies looking to get into mountain biking in Arizona, mostly on desert dirt paths and some city bike paths. My budget is around $600+/- for each bike and I've been doing a little research and this is what I'm looking at

-Used 2014 Giant 27.5 Talon 1 for $750 (great condition) @ Craigslist - Has Shimano Deore groupset (+) and XC30 fork (a minus from what I've read)
-Airborne Guardian $600 before shipping @ Online - Will also need pedals?
-2016 Giant 27.5 Talon 4 $600 @ LBS - Lower groupset and Suntour XCT fork
-2016 Fuji Nevada 27.5 1.7 - $490 @ LBS - Lowest groupset of all of these

I'm leaning towards the used Giant Talon for myself, I might be able to work the price down a bit too. If not, I keep reading that Airborne bikes come with "the best parts for the price" but I haven't been able to find anything to back up why that is. Would the Airborne be a best bet for a new bike?

Darth Lefty 

The Trail 1 is obviously a way better bike than the others with a stouter fork with more features and a drivetrain that is 2 steps up the food chain. I guess you'd have to decide if the depreciation is worth it.

The Airborne also has a "real" fork and decent but lesser (and previous model) drivetrain. Airborne has a lower price for a given spec level because of their business model, selling direct with components that are a few years behind current; and if you are willing to do that, you could also look at Bikes Direct, who offer the same sort of thing.

The other Giant and Fuji are another notch down.

hig4s

I like Giants, have one, but with a hardtail, you can get the bikesdirect motobecane 529 for $399 and has the same fork as the Talon 4 and similar components. I got one for my son, very nice for the price.