I am looking for something with module and library management, code auto correction, debugging tools,; moving toward continuous deployment and automated build testing. Any recommendations/reviews from the HN network?
http://www.activestate.com/komodo/
The other non-cheap IDE specifically targeting python is wingware, I've heard good things but never used
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I also played with the vim plugins and textmate bundles for ruby and python (at least a year ago) and thought they werre well done, quite usable. I'm one of those people who thinks you should learn vi/vim cause it'll be installed on platforms / servers where you don't have root access.
I recently tried Netbeans for some PHP development, and I think it's ok - but yes, it really slows down when it's "scanning projects...". (I've configured to sync to server on save) - how annoying.
Recently had to learn more vim and I don't mind using it on the server (console environment), but prefer an actual UI.
Pydev has the code completion and debugging facilities that you are looking for and I would imagine that you could find a suitable plugin to do the continuous deployment and automated build testing as eclipse has a strong plugin ecosystem.
I personally would recommend Emacs + bpython/ipython. A deadly combination.
Editing: vim or emacs. if vim: nerdtree, vim-snipmate, vim-omnicomplete, vim's python integration.
Deployment: rsync (or your DVCS). I have a simple script that 'touch'es my Django .wsgi files before rsyncing to the deployment server.
ipython is great.
Intellij has a free trial for 30 days, that way you can see if going for 'closed source' vs open source is worth it.