SuperDave and mrailing (Dave and Michael):

I have always stayed out of these discussions when talking about the i730 way back when and now, but wanted to say something to the two of you.

Your efforts on the i730 made my phone useable. I am not complaining about Samsung or Verizon. Rather, I am thanking both of you. As Convergent said, you are unique contributors to this forum. Know how much I have appreciated all that you have done to make the phone an indispensible tool for my work and my play!

We have no idea how perfect or how flawed the i760 will be. While there are no guarantees, it SEEMS as those it will be released and we will get our hands on it. As with any computer I have ever had, there are lots of little tweaks that "optimize" it, that "personalize" it, that make it from a "box" to "mine."

I am not savvy how to do that with these complicated phones. I break out into cold sweats each time I venture into the system registry. I would much rather follow the lead of someone who knows what they are doing.

So...here is my take (though each of you needs to decide your own path). I would really like to donate money to give you each a phone as soon as it comes out. (I am willing and think its prudent to probably wait until it is REALLY announced. We would still have a good week to raise the money, wouldn't we?). Consider it a thank you gift, for all the work you have done.

If you find stuff worthy of fixing and you offer to share that with us, terrific. If you find ways of setting it up that you offer to share with us, terrific. If you find interesting tweaks that optimize it and you share them with us, terrific. While I won't count on you doing ANYTHING, I will know that if there is something that is tweakable, fixable, setup-able - and you have the time and interest in it - then it would be something that I could benefit from.

I guess what I am sayig is this: with NO phone in your hands, my options for doing anything on the phone are very limited. By saying thanks to you for past efforts (by giving you a phone), I realize that you may find something interesting to share...and that could be something that makes my phone even better. At least it leaves the options open.

I do not see this as a quid pro quo. You owe us nothing. Please reconsider and accept a gift from grateful friends who have benefited from your time in the past. Consider the gift of a new i760, that we hope has lots of potential to make our time with it enjoyable and more efficient. Consider letting us give you the chance to play with it, to fall in love or out of love with it. Your opinions, your reactions, your "playing with it" will probably redound to our benefit...but the main reason I would give money to help you acquire the phone is simply to say "thank you" for what you have demonstrated and done in the past.

So...please think about it and let us know.

And by the way, THANKS.