Panasonic is offering a $2,000 rebate when you buy a 370 between Jan. 1 - Mar. 31, 2011. That's a heck of a deal.
If you were sitting on the fence, this is a pretty good incentive. Maybe I can swap my 500 for one.

That is a nice rebate. Makes one think new model or maybe they are not selling well.

I am happy with 2/3" chips and no CMOS.

I expect the trailing noise issue is not helping sales - along with the shallow DoF craze!

I'd certainly be interested if anyone could assure me that the new firmware PAP setting (effectively turning off the silly gain boost plus dreadful DNR) actually leaves you with clean images! Having seen with my own eyes what terrible damage that silly attempt to pretend the camera's sensitivity could compete with 1/2" CMOS chips (EX1 and 3) and having seen the banding and noise on the AF100 from the less than stellar image processing, my faith in the lower-end Pana models has been seriously shaken.

Are there any former sufferers of the trailing noise issue here that are happy and can try to convince me that this camera actually does produce clean images in decent light?

The BBC report on the 371 has just been published and you can find it here: http://thebrownings.name/WHP034/pdf/WHP034-ADD53_Panasonic_HPX371.pdf

If you can find an ex demo or new HPX300/301 at low cost you may be interested in the conclusion:
2.5 Conclusion
The HPX371 performs a little better than does the HPX301, particularly relating to lens aberrations. The noise levels are very similar, but the 371 exhibits noise distribution which is easier to explain. In all other respects, it appears to be almost identical to the 301.

Are there any former sufferers of the trailing noise issue here that are happy and can try to convince me that this camera actually does produce clean images in decent light?

I've talked over youtube coments with the pearson who started the thread about the noise isue. There he said that the trailing noise is gone with the new update.

Her is the link to his youtube video (look below for comments): YouTube - HPX 371 at the docks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niJTRmXwrzg)