I am looking around for an all-mountain bike...I don't mind climbing, but prefer to balls to the wall on downhills. I've been looking at the Kona Dawg or Dawg Dee-lux...preferably the Dee-Lux since it has considerably better specs. What other good bikes are there around this price point?

Kona Dawg is awsome. The new Versus Blitz II or the Trigger, SC Heckler or Nomad. :)

http://www.versuscycles.com/blitz_detail.html

I am looking around for an all-mountain bike...I don't mind climbing, but prefer to balls to the wall on downhills. I've been looking at the Kona Dawg or Dawg Dee-lux...preferably the Dee-Lux since it has considerably better specs. What other good bikes are there around this price point?

Other bikes that compare to the Dawg... There aren't any! LOL :D

Truth be known there are. I own a 05 Dee-Lux which compares closest to the 06 Primo. You'll be hard-pressed to find a better bike in it's class for stability in the rough and decents. The 68 degree head angle is at the root of that. To me it's still plenty nimble though and it climbs much better than the head angle might lead you to believe. Definately test ride this bike.

You may want to also check out Specialized StumpJumper series and the Giant Reign 3.
Iron Horse makes some decent bikes. Plenty good bikes to choose from. Make sure you test ride many before laying down the green!

Iron Horse MKIII, great trail bike. Look for an '05 closeout at places like Randall Scott or a Performance near you.

Dw-Link is a great suspension design, and the bikes are nicely speced at the price range. Just got one and loving it. Albeit it is on the fat side, for what seems to be a trend of lighter 5" travel bikes. But that is not a worry, because it rips on the downhill sections!

If you can find any 05 models you could get an awesome deal. I bought an 05 Reign 2 earlier this year for 1500.-- on sale at Performance. Do some research and call around you might just find what you are looking for.

Iron Horse MKIII, great trail bike. Look for an '05 closeout at places like Randall Scott or a Performance near you.

Dw-Link is a great suspension design, and the bikes are nicely speced at the price range. Just got one and loving it. Albeit it is on the fat side, for what seems to be a trend of lighter 5" travel bikes. But that is not a worry, because it rips on the downhill sections!
Ditto.

Cannondale Prophet 600 or lower.

Transition Preston!

Be sure to check out the Jamis XLT 1.0 for $1500 5/5 and includes Fox Float 130 R on the front. Very very nice specs for this price range in cluding Hayes hydros...

Jeff

Enduro
Reign

Actually they're both 6", so sue me, but if you pedal uphill, they should be better than a faux-bar like the Kona. (I'm not dissing the Dawg, but it *is* a single pivot)

What about the jamis XLT line? I've got an XLT frame however then what you get for your $$$ on a spec Jamis is pretty impressive.

I rode a 04' Enduro Comp that I upgraded to an XT build with Thompson and king etc. I sold it in Oct for $1100. Super faithful, beat the hell out of it. Very balanced!
You can find a 04' Enduro Pro for $1000 for sure.
Giant MTB's are mass-produced throw away trash. I have a good friend that rides pro for Giant and he brakes at least on a year.
Kona's are sweet but heavy.

My advice, buck up, use the card, get the hall pass from the old lady and get a Nomad!

I'd have to say the mongoose teocali is worth checking out. The elite version costs ~1600 and offers some pretty impressive specs for the money. I have an 05 teocali super that i've been riding for the past 6 months and i love it...climbs great, decends great, i'm very happy with it.

Enduro

one more for the jamis xlt. I have one and I beat the hell out of it and I am 250lbs and it works great.

I'll 2nd the Mongoose Teocali. There a wicked deal and the Suspension is great uphill or down