just done my second recharge after running the battery out and the display is now messed up - nokia logo flaring up and down the screen, then block lines on the home screen vetically and where I'd unchecked the rss and interent radio from the "desktop" it's all back there, but unreadable/unusable!

Any help? This happen to anyone else?

I've never run the battery flat - always put it on charge when not in use - but you could try this:
switch off, hold down home button while switching back on.

I'd pop the battery out to make sure the unit is 'dead'. Then reboot and see what happens. If it's still there try reflashing the firmware (there are instructions on Nokia's site, this site, and abroad).

As well, with that type of battery, it's bad to run it all the way down. Try to keep it 'topped up' from now on.

hi, thanks for esponses - the unit is less than a week old, so just doing the complete discharge bit as recommended in manual. Tried reflashing software but same thing. Must be a hardware fault?

Unfortunately sounds like it.