if i were you i would go with verizon, go to the store give them a price range and they will hook you up, and you get to play around with the phones and see which ones YOU like best, not everybody else. plus verizon is about to have the nations best service because they just bought alltel i believe.
 blackberry is pretty cheap on their website too, im bout to get that phone. super practical, i phone is a fad, 4 of my buddies have them and their shit never works... internet is slow as balls and a shit ton of dropped calls