I have pre-ordered the starter set. I still plan to buy the 3 core rule books, but with the staggered release I felt the starter set was a good benefit to get going.
Also, you need to order from Amazon if you want the books. I would love to support my FLGS but I cannot justify the cost difference to myself. I know it is not the fault of the game store and they suffer for it.
Amazon has all three core books up for pre-order at significant discounts. You can get all 3 for less than $100. The starter set is $13.
I am still thinking to get the game started after GenCon, but I will be willing to run a dry run or two prior to that to get the feel for the Roll20 functionality if anyone wants to plan a few hours one evening after I have the starter set.