If this is your first Android, don’t worry. It was mine too and it took me *maybe* 30 minute to figure things out. Folks at Google must be doing something right if they’ve taken the lead over Apple and Blackberry in the Smartphone market!
The phone itself: I picked it over the Desire S for two reasons: the bigger screen and higher-resolution camera. Ignore comments about poor picture quality on the phone. That’s most likely a faulty piece. 
I’m a big twitter user and wanted a great web browsing experience to get through all those links. The screen size is just right for that.
I also figured HTC would eventually correct the minor hiccup of running Froyo (2.2) over Gingerbread (2.3). (NOTE: I contacted HTC about this. They say there are no plans yet to put 2.3 on the Incredible S in India, despite its release in the UK. This isn’t a deal-killer unless you want stuff like NFC. What’s that? Exactly! 
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On battery life, it really depends. Most days I make it through with a single charge. On internet-heavy days, I top up before going to bed. I bought a car charger (about 300 bucks for a branded Samsung) just in case.
The display does wash out in bright sunlight. You could correct this by boosting screen brightness but this WILL reduce battery life. My screen’s brightness is about 10% and it still sucks about 75% of the phone’s power. (Yes, there’s a meter for this buried in the system’s bowels somewhere!)
You can also adjust your apps’ sync features to manual or with maximum time gaps to keep the battery longer. At any rate, you probably check Facebook when you’re curious or bored.
Given that this isn’t a cheap phone, I suggest a hard-shell case; Gorrilla Glass and solid build notwithstanding. Otterbox makes custom-fits for the Incredibe S/ Incredible 2 and sells them directly from its website. Pricey, but you’ll feel so much safer with it on! Especially since the camera lens does jut out the back.
Speaking of features, I’d have liked a dedicated camera button. But HTC and Android are just so intuitive where it counts… call quality, call handling sharing feeds, photos and videos, web browsing and contact list management, that the downsides barely matter. 8.5/10 for me.