Thanks guys for the various suggestions. I couldn't quite pinpoint what was good and what was average but I realised that when buying a bike, go with what you can afford on a good frame and fork and spend money on getting quality parts like pedals, brakes etc.
Having said that, a lot of bikes tend to be the same and only the hardcore bikers can tell from bikes that has good setups from those that don't. Like cameras, it pays to do quite a bit of research!