ORIGINAL: Yankee
I drove several at the Ram Test Challenge earlier this year also, I was very impressed. I had an 04 that I bought new and very much miss it. The new 09's interior is leaps and bounds better than the previous - that was one of my biggest complaints with my 04.
I kinda wish Dodge would make a "truck" version of the 6.1 - perhaps not as high-strung as the SRT 6.1 but with more torque and can run on 87 (or 89). GM now has their 403 hp 6.2 in their half-tons, making the 390 hp Hemi come up a bit short. Dodge also needs to dump their Mercedes 5-speed tranny and get a real 6-speed auto like the competition does. As far as a manual, if you really need one you can always upgrade to the 2500 model - yeah it'd be nice if they offered one in the 1500, but that's hardly a deal-breaker for me. In my Challenger I demand a manual, but not for my truck (unless it's the SRT-10... different story there)
Bottom line is if you liked the 2002-08 Ram, you should easily love the new one.
Actually the 5-speed in the truck is a Chrysler design, its the one in the LX cars that is Mercedes design, but I agree with you on getting a real 6-speed auto part. I would like to see them develop a 6.4L truck version of the Hemi, this way they have the displacement advantage.