Warning - long blather.

I ordered from Amazon on Dec. 19, when they showed "3 in stock". Since that number didn't change all the rest of the day, I suspiciously called their support in India the next day and was assured that my unit was ready to ship. Four hours later I got an email to expect it mid-January.

So I ordered from Let's Talk, who said it was in stock. (They asked uniquely obnoxious personal questions to verify my credit card, but I was - er, motivated.) The web page showed my order ready to ship. Then a few hours later it showed back ordered.

After some sad experiences, I now check web vendors out on Bizrate.com and ResellerRatings.com. I never order from those with positives less than the mid-90's unless I'm desperate and they have a credible no-questions return policy. Based on that, I assumed that everyone else who claimed they had stock was lying. So I resigned myself to a January delivery and sat tight.

The next day I got an email from Let's Talk that my order had shipped. Go figure.

Waiting is no fun, but it'll be worth it.