I went with the Pirelli SnowSports. I read the 80 or so reviews on Tirerack, and they were incredibly positive and enthusiastic (I suppose that's to be expected given they're posted by a company trying to sell the tires).

One consistent theme in the reviews that surprised me was that guys likes the tires' performance on dry pavement so much that they often kept them on all year! The wear was apparantly excellent. While I may not choose to keep them on all year, it suggests that the tires are perhaps closer to "all seasons" than true snow tires, which works well for me because (as pointed out by RFL above) my area gets lots of cold weather but not that much heavy snow. Thanks again to all.