John,
You haven't had many replies, probably because this has been discussed to death over the last few years on here. I would suggest using the search engine, and as you said, looking in the back pages of 'Flyer' or 'Pilot' and then researching comments on the specific schools on here also.
(There was also an article in the March issue of 'Flyer' about doing a JAA PPL in Florida if you can track down a copy).
For what it's worth, I did my JAA PPL in the States and I'd recommend it wholeheartedly.