Ok guys... hear me out OK?
RE: Pre-Ordering via BestBuy on the 18th. Who cares?
What does this buy you? Nothing. You preorder the phone on the 18th, you can go pick it up at 10am on the 29th, it's guaranteed, cool. The only benefits you get with BestBuy is that you do not have to mail in a rebate (that may be good enough reason for some of you).
RE: Pre-Ordering via Verizon.
This is the way to go for folks who aren't in a "rush" to get it, you pre-order, it comes to your door some time on the 29th. Could be 6pm or 7pm, or could be 8am. Maybe your un out to pick up some milk and they attempt to deliver it to you but you arent there to sign it. Now you have to wait ANOTHER day! haha. Bottom line is that people who are in this thread do not want to wait that long to get their hands on this baby. Other than that...what if your spanking new, shiny phone has a dead-pixel, or a loose battery? You have to work thru Verizon online to sort that out, new shipments may be delayed, it could take you a few weeks before you have your pristine new Incredible. Pass.
RE: Getting the phone as SOON as it's available!
Personally, I want this phone the second it is released. This means you do NOT pre-order the device from anywhere, BB or Verizon. Due to the minimal advertising related to this phone, it's not going to be as popular as the BlackBerry Storm was on release date or something hyped as much as that. The Droid was hyped to all hell, I didn't even originally want it...went to Verizon around 6pm to check it out the day it was released and picked it up, they had PLENTY in stock.
So, head to your local Verizon, or Kiosk about an hour early (to make sure you beat the few gadget freaks you might be competing with). Pick up the phone as soon as the doors open, examine your phone...if there is any issues, dead pixel, loose screen, etc...ask for another. (let's be honest, there will be many threads with day 1 issues, do you want to be one of those upset that their phone isn't all they dreamed of) Then, head home happy that you were the first to get the Incredible and spend the rest of the day in dorky, gadgety bliss modifying each setting and tooling around with the coolest phone Verizon ever saw.
Lastly, you always have the option of trying to find the phone before the street date, if you pre-order, that is not a possibility. Ya never know if this thing leaks a few days early, not pre-ordering lets you have the ability to get this ahead of time!
This is my thought process regarding purchasing your Incredible, take it for what it's worth. Bottom line is that I will have mine 8:03am on the 29th. (or sooner).