I have the LG Dare, absolutely great phone. It's a little difficult in scrolling through text or websites, but as a whole fantastic. It really depends on what you're looking for in a phone. Personally, I text a lot, like taking pictures, and occasionally go on the internet.
When I was searching for a new phone, as my 2 year plan was almost over, I looked for a phone that exemplified those 3 things. I think the best starting point for you is to do something like that.

If you're with Verizon, wait a little for the iPhone, which should come out early 2011...

I just got a Droid Incredible last week with just a talk and data plan. No text, but I've figured out how to use Google Voice for that. I'm not sure how much it is per month. It's nice. Kind of excessive for me at the moment just because I don't have a job and don't really go out often, but I'm still playing around with it.

I have a Droid Incredible w/ data package. Not sure what it costs a month, wife pays. Its pretty awesome though I'm sure there's probably something better out now. I know the Driod X has a slightly bigger screen but I havent read reviews on it. Its pretty sweet, does everything I need ..or I can just download whatever instantly from android market. Only thing is you'll want a car charger since the battery life is pretty short. Might not make it through the whole day on one charge if you use it heavily. Or you can upgrade the battery for $50.

I have an iPhone. I use it for everything. Email. Phone. Text. Web. Movies. Camera. Kinda love it. I pay $110.00 a month for mine and the wife's with unlimited data. Kinda expensive but we use them constantly. Blogging from mine while I watch football now.

The thing with the Blackberry Pearl is the viewing screen is kinda tiny. If your going to pay extra for a data plan you might as well be able to see wth your doing. For me I need the largest screen I can get. With the Dinc I can view/zoom in on stock charts and make trades on the go...and fast. But if your just going to check emails or whatever screen size probably doesn't matter as much.

I was sort of wondering about the battery, Chad. I don't really use my phone toooo often, and just have AIM running in the background and it runs out of juice pretty quick.

I don't know how much it costs, it's on a family plan I think, but I've got an iPhone and I love it. I probably use it for internet 80% of the time, calls 10% of the time, texts 10% of the time. I'm constantly on threadless and twitter and email from the phone. The simplicity and ease of use is incredible, it's intuitive and just a really great product (except for durability, mine's broken a few times, but their customer service is the best ever and they've replaced it for free every time, although that definitely isn't the case for everyone)

Broke in what manner Becca?

once when the screen physically broke/cracked and split all over
once when the touch screen wouldn't work on the bottom half and I couldn't unlock it ever
once when I dropped it in water
once when it just died

It's like a human.

Wow. I am glad I haven't had any real problems

I have a Droid--not sure the exact model, I got it just before the Droid X came out--with an unlimited data plan (I think that kind of plan is going to be obsolete soon, though) and pay a little under $80.00/month.

I adore my phone (in a purely platonic way, of course). Strangely enough, I hardly ever use it as a phone. I don't text, but use it to web surf and check email and play games. I used the camera on my recent vacation. My media player seems to be dying and I will likely just use the Droid for those kind of functions when it finally goes.

Yeah, battery life can be short, especially if you view movies or web surf a lot. I bought a portable charger for my trip and that worked great.

I have an iphone (3g) which I got for free from a friend, so I guess it's not really helpful.. But I spend about $30 a month on credit, thats just because I don't use the internet on it unless I'm at a wireless spot :')

i'm trying to find a cheap samsung gravity 3 on ebay 'cause that's the phone i want when i switch plans in a week. i don't need a smart phone because i have no need for the web.

I really don't need web on the go either....but I'm sure I'd make use of it. My current phone is just such a piece of shit.....and it's time to upgrade. I figure I might as well go for something good, like a Blackberry. Don't know if I see myself with an iPhone though....they're swanky, but pricey.

i just want something with a physical qwerty keyboard

Having the web on my phone would be nice, but I'll probably always be too cheap to do that.

It would be nice to have an actual keyboard, though.

i have to get a cell phone soon. sadness

ANDROID FTW!!! =p

I have a HTC Hero (which i wouldn't get now) I'd get a galaxy S probably if i was buying one today.

we pay about $120 (unlimited voice and data) for a family plan (oh right + 20 for mrs dingo's god damn blackberry enterprise..blah)

anyways android is very nice ... I have mine set up w/ a vpn and some rdc aps so I don't even take my laptop or netbook w/ me much now.

hmmm HTC Legend is an option.

I don't really want to pay more than about 50 bucks a month though. I'm not sure how realistic that is for a Smart Phone of any kind.