Grant,
>> "my technique must be faulty" theory <<
I am with you on this one. With mine the first 500+ shots were predominantly out of focus; no matter how I tried, solid tripod, cable release, mirror lockup, high speed shutter or stopped down lens, etc. nothing seemed to help. I sent it to Nikon and they adjusted the autofocus mechanism, the camera now focuses pretty well, but it seems that they threw something else out because now most of the shots are soft and colorless. I have played around with WB, color mode, etc. etc. and nothing seems to help.
The fact that the autofocus now works pretty well dispels the myth that camera shake is creating the problems. Once in a while mine "locks" on one area of the subject, but an area in another plane is actually in focus while the locked-on area is soft.
Right now I have my dealer talking with the regional sales rep about replacing the camera; I tried to speak with the service manager at the Torrance location and he is too busy to speak with customers having problems. I don't want to keep bringing the camera back to Nikon for them to experiment with it. I have spent way too many hours testing this $5k camera, with my D2H and D100 I get excellent results, I should be able to handle the D2X in the same manner and get the same or better results, the Nikon technicians agree with this.
Someone else mentioned Nikonians, in my experience that is a hostile place if you are having problem and express dissatisfaction with Nikon.