I havent read this whole thread, all I noticed is you had a board from beachbeat, thereby Im thinking your a sushine coast boy, if that is the case I can only make one suggestion, I reckon people might bag me for saying this. but here goes.
Grap all your boards, go down to mark pridmores next board testing day, there is one coming up soon, and talk to the man, you need to talk to a shaper, it doesnt have to be mark, but the best thing about this oppurtunity is mark will have a variety of boards and models for you to look at, even if they are not the right size you will be able to get a idea of what is around. Mark is just a little grommet at heart, I dont want to plug him over any other shapers but.......... if you know of a shaper with a grommets heart go see em, see there range, talk to them. Mark mainly deals in pu boards, he dealt with me fantastic and made me a cracker mate.
Another suggestion on someone who has a grommets enthusiasm for what he does is tiger, he is further up the coast towards noosa, and tiger builds composite boards, they are made to last, cost more coin but you wont regret it, he has been around a while and is highly recommended. Pm them both, Im sure there are other shapers up here on realsurf.
One last thought, I have to mention fong, fong does know his stuff when he talks about boards, he has been in the industry as well no matter what people have said about him, he is a great bloke, and the boards he sells are by HUEI, I dont need to tell anyone of the standard of hueis work and you cant go wrong there either.
Dont buy off the rack is my only thought, go custom, spend coin if yourve got it, and enjoy the ride as someone makes you a cracker of a board
Cheers
Digger
ps. make sure you tell us what you decided, pics are a must, and a ride report please, Im stoked for you that your getting a new board, bloody exciting just thinking about. Oh, and one day, try making one yourself, its bloody addictive I tell ya