I totally understand your hessitancy of messing with HTACCESS.
Here are some great links for PHP 301 redirects and canonical.
http://www.webconfs.com/how-to-redirect-a-webpage.php/
http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=139394
This will make life easier for you.
There is nothing to fear but fear itself.
I hope this helps and good luck