Perhaps I should
change my question to 'Does anyone know of any good directional
snowboards that aren't that directional'. For example, the nose and
the tail have similar charactersitics, the binding setback is minimal,
and the nose isn't that much softer than the tail.

You can always move the bindings a little more forward especially if you
center your disks across the width (not always desirable, depending on
binding design and boot size).

In general there are two differences between the tip and the tail, ignoring
the location of the inserts: stiffness and width. The nose, as you have
already discussed, is typically softer, and also wider, typically 4 - 6 mm,
than the tail. You don't see too many true twin-tips out there and when
you do, they are usually shorter and have a tight sidecut, making them not
so great for edge hold... thus not what you want.

Donek snowboards (www.donek.com) used to make a twin tip. I think the twin
tips disappeared from their website about 2 years ago, but you can always
call and ask if he can still make you one. I've had excellent experiences
with Donek so far - my wife and I have bought 6 of them between us. If you
want edge hold, it doesn't get any better without going to an alpine board
(which you don't ride fakie unless you are really good and showing off )
.. Look on google for archives of this newsgroup for extensive discussion of
Donek.

I will spend a moment to vent too. Why is it soo difficult to find
usefull information about snowboards on the manufacturer's websites?

No kidding. Alas, such is life when most of their revenue comes from kids
that are more interested in image than performance.

Mike T