Too bad I joined this thread too late to tell you to rent the RX1. I know the refurbs are still double what you wanted to spend, but this IS Head-Case... 
  
And I still need to post some pics. 
  
As far as post processing goes, like Ari said, it isn't that big of a deal, and once you've got the basics down, you will take (literally) a minute to make adjustments that take an ok photo into good territory, or take a great photo into the stratosphere.