Just my $0.02 on the issue:
I had my original device from nov 27th through about feb 20th...then the windows button stuck. At first, I was hell-bent on getting a new replacement, but due to the incredible difficulty VZW made me go through in order to get it, I got a replacement. The first one they sent had terrible light leak and the vibration was audible from across the room, so I sent it back. The second replacement had similar problems, but not nearly as bad so I accepted it. Its now 2 mths later and the phone is in the exact same state it was when I received it, which is a good thing.
At the end of the day, I'm a little upset that I spent $300 on a phone with so many physical defects. That being said, now that we have it unlocked etc, it is hands-down the best phone at VZW (least until the incredible comes out...bastards). I mean it may seem silly, but things like button quality are often overlooked. Nevertheless, go compare the screen quality with any other phone. I had mine side-by-side with a droid and the screen is simply better. Not only that, but it often beats my friends overclocked droid when it comes to loading web pages. What's more is that
AFAIK, my phone is the ONLY phone that will connect to my college's network. A friend who works for IT let me know that they were shocked that a phone managed to get onto the network.
At the end of the day, you would have to pry this phone from my cold dead hands to get it. I've considered upgrading to the incredible when it comes out, but I really don't see the point of having all that power, without windows mobile. Ultimately, now that I've gotten over the "refurb" aspect, and knowing that I can have a replacement within 48 hours with no difficulty, the button issue doesn't bother me. Cliche, but it's what's on the inside that counts, and I definitely trust the internal components...which is what matters to me in the end.
On a related note, I realllly don't like the idea of WM7. I wish I could articulate this a bit better, but it seems to be just as "restricted" as the iphone. Funny thing about both android and iphone is that they're marketed as being highly customizable, but really they're nowhere near as customizable as WM6.x. While both apple and google did a lot of really good things with their respective OS's, it appears that windows has decided to take the worst aspect from them: completely sealed, proprietary OS and phone. Even if it's the best OS ever, the thought of being inexorably tied to microsoft supported stuff makes me a bit hesitant. Sure, it will probably be unlocked, but just as the case of a jailbroken iphone, it still won't be nearly as customizable as the phones we have now.
Okay...maybe $0.03
