[dataspaz]

i'm a newbie but wanted to pass along the information I received late today. My verizon store called late this afternoon and said "we have 2 here for you to look at" so I headed on over. I got there and 1 guy was using one and I got the other from the sales rep.

My biggest concern was typing. After playing with it a few minutes, I realized I would have no issue with this. I think you can catch on quickly as long as you type with your thumbs.

The graphics and audio were great. The build quality is very impressive - this thing is rock solid. The concerning part was the camera. I tried to launch it a couple of times and it crashed both times. It seemed to hourglass forever and then the graphics got all skewed. Both times I handed it back to the rep who apologized.

I should say I'm a potentially new Verizon customer who came in earlier in the week to look at plans and get the scoop on the storm launch. The gal helping me is the one who called today. I spoke with her as I was leaving and she said "Don't bother coming in early, they will be gone. I can call you tomorrow and take all your info and order you one but you won't get it until Tuesday." I can't believe this is hype if she told me not to bother coming in.

I'm waiting to see how this all shakes out. If this is a disastrous launch including buggy software and pissed off customers, I may take that as a sign to go with another carrier.

[JakeALewis]

Your rep was right. I'm in Dallas as well, and I went in to my local VZW at 4 or so to make sure I still had one reserved. The manager that I had been in contact with said that he had gotten 11. Total. ELEVEN. He said he didn't know of any store in the area that got more than 15. Unless you were on someone's list, he said, they just got an e-mail saying orders they take tomorrow will be processed on the 25th.

The carrier is great. Best 3G network, but they were extraordinarily anxious to get the most anticipated phone of the year out by the holidays. If it's buggy, wait a bit. They're flashing the lot of them tonight, and there will probably be a few OTA updates in the near future as well.