Aaron, interesting post, thanks for that. I've yet to see a clamshell Z in the flesh, let alone a 6000! My experience is limited to the 5500...
The device I keep going back to use is the HP Jornada 720 clamshell, which has a 640x240 screen that's huge (and blocky!) in comparison to a 3.7" VGA. I have a sneaking feeling that 3.7" might be too small for me to use, but hopefully I'll be meeting up with a member on here who lives locally and has an 860 to show me (thanks Diesel1)
I've also tried a Samsung Nexio XP30, which has a glorious 800x480 5" screen - it's a thing of beauty, but battery life is awful so it went on ebay...
There does seem to be wasted space on the Z clamshell, so I'd love to see the screen made into a widescreen format, keeping the vertical size the same. That would be awesome, but given that no screens like that are around, I doubt sharp has the appetite to create a new form factor/size of screen . Like adf, I doubt it'll be produced which is a shame.
The Z fund is healthy, and part of me thinks that I'm best off waiting to see what November brings, but another part of me thinks that when I see the 860, I'll want the 3100 immediately . Decisions, decisions!