Newbie considering a TP2 needs help...

[SweepTheLeg]

Hi all... I've been reading up on the FAQs but I had some ultra specific questions I hoped I could get answered. I'm a smart phone newbie, but it's gotten to the point where I need to upgrade my phone. I was going to get the Droid, but the difficult physical keyboard maybe me look at other phones, which led me to the TP2.

First question - do I need to unlock the phone to add the stealth tethering rom? Do I also need to unlock it to add the HTC wi-fi CAB or the WMWiFiRouter?

Second question - I've seen great reviews for the TP2 on Verizon's site, Google, Amazon, etc... but each time I've gone into a Verizon store, they don't have a phone hooked up, just a dummy demo, and they talk about how it's been constantly returned. If the TP2 for Verizon just came out in September, why are they acting like the phone doesn't exist? Is it a competition issue with the Droid, since the keyboard on the TP2 seems to be superior to the Droids?

Third question - I do a lot of texting. How easy is it to get into the texting functions on the phone? (this goes back to Verizon not having a "live" phone to play with in the store) I played with the HTC Ozone but it seemed like it was like layer upon layer to get into the text messaging functions. (maybe just because I'm used to my dumbphone)

Thanks for your help.