You're probably looking for a solution somewhere between the one I'm going to mention and AE, which you've already mentioned but..
If you're doing a freebie or just need to get something out quickly, Nero Vision 4 is worth noting. I once took pity on a bride who decided at the last moment that she couldn't afford our $199 photo montage option. She'd already sent me a CD with her photos, so I tossed them into Nero Vision, just to see what it would do, I told it to use random transitions and spent maybe all of ten minutes. "Presto", Nero put it together. I added a music background and the bride was absolutely thrilled with it.
Obviously you can do a more creative, artistic and pleasing job when you take full control in an NLE, but I've got to admit that for a quick and dirty montage - this worked pretty nicely.