Noob, what bike?

[juan king]

Firstly, sorry for another 'what?' thread but I'm looking to buy a new bike. I have around £4-600 to spend, It will mostly be used on roads/towpaths but it may need to cover light off road duties too.
I have been looking online for a few days now and keep coming back to either a Boardman hybrid comp or a Hoy Shizuoka 1.0. But I'm still undecided if i should go rigid or not? is there better bikes out there suited to my needs?
Thanks in advance