This suddenly dawned on me as I am about to embark on a new adventure..one w/ a Blackberry...
I wore out 1 a530, 2 sidekicks (original mono-chrome..bad quality), and 2 nokia 6600 keypads from textmessaging...has anyone's BB keypads wore out to the point where certain buttons do not respond when pressed?
i hope RIM's production is a bit better at it than the other manufacturers.

My wife's ALT key fell off last week with moderate use since November. Luckily, T-mobile replaced it under warranty.

In fairness, I also have a 7100t with more use since Sept 2004 and haven't had any button problems.

I’m sure its not bullet proof. Things wear out, although my buddy has had his 7100 for 4 months and no issues with the hardware. Could be a mfg. defect, but I wouldn’t let it hold you from the purchase. BB's are worth the investment, even for non-corporate users like me.