actually cut back to the 07 June build of acceptance. i had screen rotation issues with the 08 June image but it may have just been a dirty write to the sdcard when i dd'd it.
will try the 08 June image again tomorrow.

FYI APN is only a placeholder at the moment. package manager fails due to de-testing repo being unsigned.
if you want to try packagekit, in terminal, run as root:
#zypper clean
#zypper refresh

the refresh will ask for confirmation of acceptance for unsigned repo.
exit terminal and re-open package-kit from menu.
i found you need to long press icons in packagekit to move throught the application menus.

regards

edit: fennec still as slow as a wet winter weekend, but general responsiveness seems improved, esp. after a reboot