My timeline and I am not there yet....However it look promising...

Ordered through Dell on 11/5 around 4:45 cst. Just could not resist the price. 441.99 plus tax.

Received the order confirmation within few minutes. Checked order status as soon I received it. Just to make sure everything is ok. It indicated Order to be shipped Dec 10,2009

Called Dell yesterday. Got through to a rep in a few minutes. He obtained all the information and put me on hold for a few minutes. Came back and told me that Dell would start receiving shipment on Nov 24th, and pre-order shipments would start on the same day directly from the manufacturer.

They even bumped my shipping to next day delivery free of charge when I told them that I would be out on Dec 10th. So my delivery date changed to Dec 8 instead of Dec 10.

Dell rep indicated that my n900 is very likely to be shipped Nov 26 or 27 and I could expect delivery the following business day...So Nov 30th.

I live very close to Chicago, I could get one over this weekend. But saving about $200 in this economy sounds more prudent for me.