ok, ok. now that you kinda gave an idea of what your looking for, (and its BROAD), this is what i will tell you. a hardtail is a hardtail. sure geometry changes, and so does weight (in my opinion, bike weight is way played out, not that important), but if your looking to do some commuting, the only thing thats gonna hurt you are big knobby tires and lack of a third chainring. so all you gotta do is invest in some cheapo slicks, and a 50something tooth chainring. as long as you can get the seat up to a comfy height for pedaling seated, youll be fine there (so just dont cut it).
as for trails and DH, you def wanna get something more burly than XC. besides, like i said, all hardtails pedal great.
as for bikes, those haro escapes look fine, specifically the comp. the lowest end one, meh, not great. Iron horse sachem 5 looks PERFECT, dunno bout the price tho, the 3 might be more in your range. tons of bikes in this all mountain catagory, but def spend some $ and get parts you want VS upgrading later. its way cheaper. hydraulic brakes and 5 inches minumum travel, good wheels and strong cranks. drivetrain parts, dont worry, thats an area to save cash. but wheels and cranks take a hell of a beating on a hardtail, so make sure you get good ones.
