I'll be installing to the HDD as soon as I get it home because there isn't any issues to begin with.
Here I was thinking someone else was on the same page finally. I know you said you saw someone play it but then also that it wasn't for long.
Truth of the matter is, this could go both ways. Could be that it is all rumors and were all happy campers with Skyrim installed and no problems. We could also be fairly upset that the textures aren't loading as they should after installing.
I don't understand at all how anyone can believe 100% either way, we have no solid proof as to either claim and no official word. There's points to be made for both arguments but in the end it doesn't amount to much of anything.