Just because the knife wasn't sharpened up to normal Spyderco standards in an assembly line, hand sharpening situation is no reason to say ZDP 189 isn't a good steel. While I've had mostly very sharp factory edges from Spyderco, I have had a few that were a bit off. They were a bit burred, but they would still shave some and cut paper, just not push cut newsprint over 3" from the point of hold like my sharpest factory Spydercos. I quickly quit worrying about initial sharpness once I learned to sharpen knives myself, however. I usually reprofile the knives I get to a thinner than stock angle and put my own edge on them very soon after I get them. Unless you plan on shipping off your knife every time you use it (most knives lose their scary sharpness very quickly upon use, even ZDP 189) you aren't going to be carrying around a scary sharp knife all the time anyway unless you learn to sharpen, so out of the box sharpness is hardly a good parameter to judge a steel on. Sharpenability, edge retention, and ability to hold acute angles without chipping or rolling are much more important in my mind if the knife is a user. As for laminated vs. solid for sharpness, it shouldn't make a difference. The thinner grinds of the laminated models will have greater cutting ability due to the thinner grinds of the knives, but the actual attainable sharpness shouldn't be any different assuming identical heat treats.
Mike
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