I just got mine delivered an hour ago.. and having seen the Sprint version in person as well I'll say this. Sprint's looks better, hands down. However, Verizon's doesn't look *THAT* bad, the pics don't really do it justice. In real life it looks very sleek, very business-like.. which follows what I assume to be their master plan - to market this thing to business like people who want a no nonsense PDA, hence eschewing certain features (like expanded memory) for business card reader and really toning down the design. It does smudge easily, no doubts there, but I do not think I would hesitate to show it off to others - it really does look pretty nice.
Keyboard is WAY easier to type on than Sprint's IMHO, the keys have good response and they seem soooo much bigger. I tried typing an email and so far the weird placement of the "M" is not an issue for me. I got used to it really quick, in fact. The buttons below are usuable but a little funky. There is no tactile separation between functions, so you kind of have to "aim" for the lighted button you want. If you try to feel it out with your thumb while not looking it's kind of easy to hit the wrong button. Don't know if Sprint's is any different in that regard. I have not had too many problems with the arrow keys. I think the trick is you have to be deliberate about your presses, you can't lightly press or else you end up sometimes with a double-hit of the key.
Right out of the box, first boot with no options changes, literally just turning it on and going to memory info - I had about 59 MB free memory. Have not had time to really play with touchflo and load programs yet - have to charge the phone and I have to get ready for traveling tomorrow.
I cannot overstate the following: The screen is freaking BEAUTIFUL. I remember about 4 years ago when I moved from a Treo 600 with that awful 160x160 screen to the Treo 650 with the 320x320 screen, and what a huge difference it was.. and it's like that all over again. It's very bright and the whites are super white. In comparison the standard 240x320 screen on my i760 looks like it belongs back in the 90's - dimmer and slightly yellowish whites. And that was a screen which I thought was pretty good as far as they went.
Response is very quick - keeping in mind no TF3D or programs added yet
When I switch from portrait to landscape it is almost instantaneous. Also, typing out a message, I finally have a phone that keeps up.. my i760 would frequently lag behind so it took 2-3 seconds sometimes to see what you wrote. Not here.. and that is a huge improvement
Stylus is nice, and is magnetized so when you slide it into place it kind of "grabs" it from you for the last few mm's and it feels quite secure.
I'm not going to argue style or free memory - Sprint has this thing beat. But if you are stuck on Verizon for corporate use (like me) or because of ETF's, I would wholeheartedly recommend you see this phone in person and strongly consider it for the speediness and screen alone.