I'm just wondering which is the better out of the 2.  I'm not talking personal preferance but I'm talking in terms of performance, handling, and all that good stuff.  

Except that the Firebird looks better,and has flip up head lights,the 3rd & 4th f-body cars are identical.  

youve the GMC trucks, then youve the chevy.
youve the pontiac Trans AM at the pillar of Pontiac, then youve the Corvette as the pillar of Chevy.  

Well seeing that I own both, I feel I can give a fair opinion on the cars.

In terms of the LS1 4th Gens.

The Firebirds appear to have more plastic on the interior, in an effort to make the car different from the Camaro. The shapes on the interior are far more appealing, but since the materials are plastic, they tend to be subject for future rattles. The door panels are heavier on the Firebird, and they sound like they are tightly fastened to the actual fiberglass door. This has been the source for many cracked door panels, simply from rolling down the windows and even going over speed bumps, you can look into it. The exterior has more voluptuous shapes, and is very appealing. The spoiler is massive, but works well with the lines of the car, and I feel it adds to it's overall exterior appearance. The car looks mean and makes a statement just for existing, and rolling down the road. That's cool, and very few cars can achieve that, especially for the price. Pontiac did a swell job on it.

The Camaro is very low key in the style department. There is nothing that stands out about it's look, other than it's profile shape, which is similar to the Firebird since only the body panels are different. The SS package makes for, I feel, one of the best looking cars on the road. The slight curves and changes in direction on the hood and the SS spoiler are great. The stock hood and spoiler are too plain for my taste, and the SS hood seems to make the front fender appear more curvaceous, but they are no different than the V6 or Z28. The interior is soft looking, and has nothing that will awe you. The AC panels are removable with your fingers, and in my opinion give it a cheap feel. The interiors on the F-cars kinda suck overall actually haha. I personally am not bothered by them at all. They look nice, so it's not like it's an ugly mess of plastic.

As for which one you should buy, that is all a matter of your own opinion/preference. The T/A is the looker, and the Camaro is the more classically-driven style car. I will say this, if I had to buy another F-body, I would probably buy another SS Camaro before another Pontiac. There is something about them that makes me keep looking at them, I don't know what it is either.

That being said, I would buy a new GTO before any of them though. The goat is a far better car if you aren't going to make a drag car out of it. You will get more enjoyment out of an '04-'06 GTO than a '98-'02 LS1 F-body. I have driven all of them, with both transmissions, and the GTO feels like a car with more than one goal in mind. The Camaro feels like it shouldn't be left stock, and should be made into some sort of bad ass street machine. The GTO is far from a perfect drag car, but would make for a more comfortable and better driving car in the long run. The F-cars are rugged muscle cars that scream for someone to push the pedal to the floor and kick the tail out.

(The next F-body will be a road racer)  

I agree with you for the most part.  My buddy had a 00 camaroSS and had quite a few performance parts into it, and not only did it wake up a whole *** of a lot, it felt like it needed them.  I would prefer my t/a over a camaro though, I love the looks (mine is black, t-tops, ws6, ram air) and I like the interior better, because of the redish orange interior lights instead of the blah blueish color in the camaro.  I would prefer a gto over the camaro, but not sure over my ***  I do like the ls2, but i love my t-tops.  And I'm not so sure about the irs in the gto.  But these are just my opinions.  

trans am all the way bro
i think firebird is better than camaro tho