Verified facts:

1. According to the latest info they provided on the Brand Angel site, there were far less than 300 Brand Angels; in fact, there were exactly 130 of them. This number was provided in mid-July, well after they stopped accepting applications, so there's reason to believe that it's more or less the truth. If that's the case, then shipping 150 machines to their Brand Angels would mean we all have them... and *none* of us have them.

2. Max's statement that the negative voices are always the loudest makes no sense in this context. It's not like there's reason for people to ONLY report when they HAVEN'T received their machine -- there's, in fact, NO reason that a Brand Angel with a machine in hand wouldn't come back to the Brand Angel site and report that fact. At the LEAST, the person would report it on their website... and if you look through the Google results for CherryPal, you'll not find a SINGLE person who has one in-hand. Nobody. Not a Brand Angel, not a reviewer, not even a paying customer.

3. CherryPal DID set up the Brand Angel network; we were each contacted by their Brand Angel manager, the same person who sent us the Brand Angel application, accepted it back from us, and informed us of our selection. We each have the same Brand Angel manager's email invitation to the network website, with the following statement: "We also created this Ning so you Brand Angels can get to know us Brand Angel Managers and the other Brand Angels better. Feel free to join and post!"

This is all a huge scam. Ridiculous.

Yeah, I got a load of emails from those guys too.

"Dude, you got 419"

Mine is the one with the vaporware definition in the pocket.

Dear Little Cherry customer-in-waiting,

I'm afraid it was my family that were in the UK based investors. Unfortunately the fundage have been tied up in my homeland of Africa. But I'm pretty sure we can get them untied from my homeland of Africa which will allow these little Cherry machine to be posted to you all in very good time.

Please help me pay the administrative fees of £3000 GBP to allow this investment to go proceed. You may transfer it into mine bank account directly.

Many happy thoughts.

Mustafa Orgiborgi

Paris, because she lost her cherry many years ago (but we will send her new ones when we have investment untied!)

Is it me or is the logo, carefully watched from an angle, reminiscent enough of the buyers fate to be on the receiving end of a bad surprise ?

CherryPal seem to have taken a leaf out of Sinclair Research's book... QL, anyone?

Still got & use a QL!

You still use a QL. What for?

I nearly got one and it was the week before my birthday when my old man got a call from the headmaster who clued him in about what was *really* going on at school, rather than the "tractor production" figures that I'd been giving him...

The Ning thing was set up by CP.

None of us have received one yet although many of us are (for the time being) waiting patiently.

Apparently the ones that have been shipped have gone to the "geek community", that said I've asked all the geeks I know and they have ether not received one or been unable to reply yet probably because they have been so wowed by the little box that they have totally retreated from the interweb!

where's me cherrypal?

There is similiar device already avaible. Its called "Begle Board". Powered by ARM.

Is it just me, or does the name and logo bear more than a passing resemblance to the Cherry Mac Emulator that was widely discredited as being a rip of of Pear PC ?

Here's the Cloud PC that you can actually buy that the Cherry wishes it could be.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/thinlinx/

check out this recent post....I feel so bad for people who bought it and are still hopeful!

http://weblog.dollarish.com/dollarish/683612294/cherrypal-a-new-deliciously-affordable-desktop-for-the-thrifty-consumer.html#

I'm a CP Brand Angel too, and can verify that there are about 105 of us in the Ning group and nobody has received anything yet. Despite CherryPal's assertion that 150 computers have already supposedly been shipped, I can say with confidence that NOBODY has received one of these computers yet because there hasn't been one word anywhere either online or in print about it. If it were for real--and if the lucky 150 people who received them were "super geeks" who trumped the 130 Brand Angels who had to sign contracts for the deal--wouldn't we be reading about it somewhere?

CherryPal SWEARS that the Brand Angels will be shipped their computers on Dec. 4 (I think that's the date--will have to check the discussion again)--but I will be absolutely shocked if I ever see that computer.

The thing is, at this point, even if the machine itself was incredible, the customer service would be so deplorable that the company would go out of business in a minute. It's not like they invented the concept of cloud computing--there are many credible, well-funded competitors out there who will be able to produce not only the computer but the reputation and customer service to back them.

Cherrypal's shop page is now showing shipments in 5 business days, but if you try to purchase through Google Checkout it is no longer possible.

Have google rumbled that this is a scam and removed the payment processing? This leaves the only possibility as a direct bank transfer -- not something I'm prepared to do, you might as well just give money to a stranger in the street!