"Dot com" has the first mover advantage. Even today most of the big sites are dot coms. I guess "dot com" should be the prefered choice for anyone looking for branding. I don't think ccTLDs can have so strong an effect on SERPs that they can be prefered over "dot com"s. Most of my sites are "dot com"s. I have a few "dot in"s but I don't buy a ccTLD unless it is for a regional site. You should try to get the "dot com" version. Who knows - even now you maybe losing some of your type-in customers to the "dot com" version.
If you can, get bot ccTLD and .com I started my hosting business as alojate.com.mx (rougly translate as "host here). Whe I got my hands on the .com domain my traffic doubled, but I still hold both domains. Since most of my clients are from México, they tend to type .mx at the end of the domain. This way I don't lose any potential clients.
I agree. if you have an option, do get the .com version of the domian. Especially if your site is expected to grow. Once your business is large, people tend to ask hefty price for the same domain. Lot of customers from US is not aware of .co.uk etc.. .