Held in high esteem due to its BlackBerry-like portrait QWERTY keyboard, the Dell Venue Pro has had a rather inglorious launch when it went on sale with Microsoft on November 8th. The handset hit the wild in early November and was quickly plagued with reports of poor WiFi connectivity, units shipping with engineering sample batteries, and troubling SIM card issues.
The handset was expected to launch with Dell in mid-November but the Venue Pro failed to materialize. The online electronics giant confirmed the handset was unexpectedly delayed but assured customers it was merely ramping up production to prepare for a big launch in the near future.
This highly anticipated launch date may be right around the corner as a recent change on Dell’s Home and Small Office website suggests the Venue Pro may start shipping on December 14th. The same page also hints at a price by listing the Venue Pr0 with an affordable $149 price tag after a two-year customer agreement with T-Mobile. Folks that prefer to shop without signing up for a contract will be able to snag the Venue Pro for a $499 off-contract price.
While this page is encouraging, keep in mind that the 14th is a preliminary ship date only. If Dell encounters other problems with the handset, this date can easily be pushed into 2011. While you wait for Dell to confirm this tentative ship date, you can check out our hands-on review here and find out whether this handset is worth the wait.