Oh yes... XDA or availability of 3rd party or community support is always another important factor to consider. So, if can read up forum like XDA before buying an Android phones.
To be frank, these days I would check out XDA's comment more often before chooisng an Android phone.
Yup, but for my phone, it's more of Samdroid than XDA. But yeah before getting an Android phone, make sure the folks at XDA are able to come up with some good stuff first. Unless you don't really care about updates and stuff.