Coming from a Motorola Q, I can understand the OP's issues. It is a little less "convenient". However dealing w/the Droid kinda got me aware of the chnge in habits when moving to a touchscreen w/sliding keys.

Regarding the auto rotate, on average, it takes maybe 2 seconds. Personally, I like this feature, given that you can only have the one "phone" shortcut between the "four" desktops, and allows for "one-handed operation". As stated, I like the slight delay to prevent accidental switching.

Regarding speed dials, I also miss that, coming from my Q, but "press-n-hold" does at least work for the "1" key for voicemail...not sure if more keys can be programmed. however now that I have multiple SIP clients configured, I'll give up speed dial for the added call options.

I think if maybe a "toggle key" were integrated into the "dial pad" would be beneficial, if it allowed one to switch between numbers and letters, when searching contacts.