Long time lurker, few times poster:
I'm torn on pre-ordering. I trust the Pandora team though...in the event there is an issue, I believe it'll be taken care of. A hardware issue would obviously suck (ship it back for replacement/repair), but any software stuff should be easy (download to SD card & done). And I'm convinced they're testing the hardware thoroughly.
Waiting for reviews could provide a better idea of what the keyboard keys and game 'nubs' will feel like, but at the end of the day, it is what it is...unless you mod it yourself (not my specialty!). So I'm pretty sure I'll be happy with however it turns out. I was fine with the GP2X 'joystick', so I should be thrilled with Pandora.
I've got the money saved, so when that fateful email arrives, I may just jump on it impulsively. There's no harm in waiting though, the software will only get better anyway! B)
And it's not like MS or Sony...there's no price drop to wait for. They're not shipping millions of Pandoras...yet!
Emu/Web/Email/Videos...no other single device is gonna do all that for me, at any price. Plus all the other stuff that's yet to be though of!
Ok, I think I've just convinced myself...LOL...