The ESP Guitar Company

Hi. Considering ordering one of these in April. I was going for the Jackson KV2 initially, but kinda decided they're now too expensive, especially as the NV Standard is a good £800 cheaper! So, my two questions: Is the hardware definitely black? Or is it chrome? I'm getting conflicting ideas between Thomann and the ESP site. Does anyone know how the neck on this compares to the Jackson KV2 or even the ESP M-II? Also - any owners, feel free to post pics for me to drool over, or vids! Cheers!