Maybe not refined, but definately different (must be in order to incorporate proximity sensor). People are saying there is no lag on the Eris because it was just released, and more so because of the hype about the Hero's lag. Almost like a placebo effect. The Hero was flawlessly fast and smooth when it first came out... no one was complaining about lag. After a month, here we are with the, just as smooth as the Hero was when it first came out. Give Eris a month for its users to install apps and widgets from the market, sync all their contacts with facebook, like we did Hero and people will be complaining about the lag just as people are of the Hero now.
Others feel the need to discuss it, so they can have at it. I'm happy with my Hero since it's a lot better than any phone I have owned to date. I have no plans to switch to Verizon, so there is nothing for me to discuss either as far as the comparison goes.