The reliability of the iPhone is not quite that of the iPods. I bought two iPhones in July. One was bad out of the box. Apple is good about warranty service and the "Geniuses" at the Apple store are usually good about swapping phones. Apple will refurbish the iPhones it takes in and re-sell them (as refurbished). If it's engraved, you're definately not getting it swapped out. I, too, like the laser engraving, but will forego it on the iPhone.