This is exactly where I fall. I never put out money for a cell phone. They get me for x amount per month for 24 months. That's enough, I'd rather put my money towards more important things.
What? You don't think my phone is important.
But yeah, I hear ya. I have a nice phone, but I really don't do much on it.
It takes me 10 seconds to do things on my desktop, that take a phone 5 minutes to do(plus finding the right applications or navigating websites that don't have imap agents, ect.)
I'm pretty happy with being able to check email, movie times, directions, and stuff so simple, that you don't need a special phone to really set you apart. I think the most fun I have with my phone, is playing flash games(because there's like 1 billion of them out there), and that's mainly reserved for sitting in a waiting room with nothing else to do.
Anyhoo, Android 2.3 native phones are the best on the market. I don't remember this massive of a gap between cellphone tech between the best and 2nd place, since maybe the microTAC platform in 1990.