I notice that some new users are still thinking that they have no balance because it does not display before unlocking the wallet and I think the unlocking should only be done after the wallet is fully synced up. I realize this was meant to be a feature but from a practical standpoint perhaps that should be re-evaluated.
FYI I'm seeing some odd behaviors with the API where confirmedbalance is still reported although the wallet is locked (usually locked, after having been unlocked). Not sure of there's some caching or something, but the 'feature' does not seem solidly implemented either way.