Is Verizon issuing the Bold 9650 as a warranty replacement for the Tour 9630?

It might be the experience of just a few Verizon customers, but based on what is being written in certain forums, Big Red has been replacing defective or broken BlackBerry Tour 9630 units with a BlackBerry Bold 9650. Now first, some background on the two devices. The 9630 and the 9650 are practically the same device with just a few significant differences. The latter features an optical trackpad instead of a trackball, and is also equipped with Wi-Fi and twice the memory. It probably goes without saying (but we'll say it anyway) that many Tour users spent an upgrade switching over to the Bold  9650. Based on the recent experiences of those who had problems with their Tour (defective trackballs have popped up, so to speak), a well mannered call to a kindly Verizon rep has resulted in the shipping of a Bold 9650 to replace the problematic handset. And since it is too early in the life cycle of the newer model to generate many refurbished units, you just might find yourself with a brand new phone-an updated model at that-without even having to use an upgrade. If Verizon replaced your defective Tour 9630 with a Bold 9650, let us hear about your experience. If you ended up with a refurbished Tour, well, better luck next time.

RIM BlackBerry Bold 9650 Specifications | Review
RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630 Specifications | Review (Verizon)

source: Crackberry