Alphonsus

I got an offer of $450 for my 2018 Diamondback 29ner MTB, although I love the look of MTB, I really want to be able to ride on roads as well as going about 10 miles up and down small hills without having to get tired, this is why I'm looking at hybrids, since I am not comfortable with the handlebars of road bikes. My budget is less that $600, so far I'm looking at the Giant Escape 2 Disc 2020 (https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/escape-2-disc-2020 ) which is $580 or Diamondback Haanjo (https://www.diamondback.com/haanjo-1-d41 ) which is $600 however that $600 includes assembly.

Speedway2

Both are nice looking bikes. If you can, ride both before plunking down your $$$.

I also like the looks of MTBs and seriously considered one for booting around the city, paved paths, etc. In the end I decided a rigid Hybrid fit my bill best and ended up with a Norco Indie3 I found in a Pawn shop for cheap and like new.

Let us know what you end up with......

Brocephus

I haven't looked at the specs, but I'd tend to prefer a Giant over a Diamondback ( having recent issues with Diamondback customer service, and specifically a Hanjo, in fact). And, if nothing else, Giant has a better reputation than Diamondback, meaning it probably will have better trade/resale potential, which is something I always factor in when buying toys.
All that said, you might consider just putting some road-friendly tires on your 29er mtn bike. Some 1.75" semi-slicks will really nimble-up the ride on the pavement, while retaining the mtn bike look, and being able to handle some off-roading, pretty much giving you the best of both worlds.

badger1

If the op's bike is something like the current Diamondback Overdrive 29 series, this ^^^ is excellent advice.

OP's bike likely has a 29er version of old-school NORBA mtb geometry -- pretty much like a current front-suspension hybrid. Put some decent semi-slick or even full-on wide road tires on there, and the result is an extremely useful/versatile bike at very little expense. Continue riding it while figuring out what kind of bike might best suit in the longer-term.

freeranger

Do you have a Fuji dealer near you? I only ask as I'm the type (as many I know are) that would not buy a bike without riding it first. The Fuji Absolute 1.7 is a nicely spec'd bike-list is $700, a little over budget, the next lower priced one-the 1.9 lists at $520. We do have a dealer that carries them and when I was considering a hybrid, went and test rode the 1.9. I would probably go for the 1.7 for the specs, but was impressed with the 1.9, especially for the price.

257 roberts

I just bought a Jamis Coda Sport, it was $540.00 so far I really like it.

Speedway2

Nice bike! I almost pulled the trigger on a CodaComp (with the carbon fork). Love the ride of the Reynolds 520 double-butted chromoly frame

Op.....if you haven't bought a bike you owe it to yourself to test ride a Coda.......