2011
Most popular Smartphones:
Blackberry - Most installed base
iPhone - Top model in sales
Android - Top OS in sales

Verizon Smart phones

Verizon	Cost2	kbd	Bro	screen	score3	WiFi hs	Cam Mp	OS	Notes
Apple iPhone 4	$200	TS	y	3.5" 640x960	EC 4.5	y	5	iOS
Droid 2	$200	Kb	y	4.3" 480x854	EC 3.5/8.3	y	5	Android
Droid X	$150	TS	y	4.3" 480x854	EC 4.5	y	8	Android
HTC Thunderbolt 4G	$250	TS	y	4.3 480x800	EC 4	y	8	Android	4G
Samsung Continuum Galaxy	$50	TS	y	3.4" 480x800	4	y	5	Android 2.1
BlackBerry Bold	$100	Kb	n	2.45 320x240	4/7.7	n	3.2	BB	SIM card with GSM for europe
BlackBderry Curve	free	Kb	n	2.5 320x240				BB
BlackBerry Storm2	$200	TS	n	3.25 480x360	3	n	3.2	BB

All have data plans for e-mail, bluetooth and color displays.
Kbd - Keyboard - TS-Touch Screen, Kb - Tactile keyboard on the front (Blackberry) or pull out.
Bro - Web Browser
2. Cost with 2 yr contract
3. score PC Mag/cnet EC-Editors Choice
WiFi hs - Hotspot allows 5 or more WiFi devices to connect thru the phones 3G link

The name "Droid" (™ Lucas films) was licensed by Verizon. There is no difference in Droid phones from Verizon and Android (™ of Google) phones.

Smart Phones 2009

Rating		Model	OS
CNet	CR
4	74	Apple iPhone	iPhone
4 EC	73	HTC Droid Incredible	Android
4	73	Motorola Droid	Android
4	72	Google Nexus One	Android
	71	Motorola Cliq XT	Android
4	71	HTC HD2	Windows Mobile 6.5
4	71	Samsung Behold II	Android
4	71	Samsung Omnia II	Windows
4	69	RIM BlackBerry Bold 9700	BlackBerry
4		HTC Legend	Android
4	66	Palm Pre Plus	Palm webOS
4 EC		LG EnV Touch
4		Samsung Rogue SCH-U960

CR = Consumer Reports
CNet review (EC=Editors Choice):

14% of mobile phones sold in 2008 were smartphones.

Cell Phones	Ver- izon	T-Mobile	Cin- gular	Blue- tooth	Other	Camera	Data	Screen	ZDNet rating
LG VX8000	X					1.3 M	EV-DO	176x220
LG VX9800	X					1.3 M	EV-DO	320x256
Samsung_SCH-i730	x			x	WiFi	1.3 M	EV-DO	240x320
Samsung SCH-a790						0.3 M		176x220
Samsung ZX20				x		1.3 M	HSDPA	176x220
Mot RAZR V3		x		X		0.3 M	GPRS	176x220	7.0
Mot V330/360		x		X		0.3 M	GPRS, EDGE 4	176x220	7.0
BlackBerry 7105t		x		X				240x260
Nokia N90		x	x	x		2M	y
Nokia 8801		x	x	x		0.5M	GPRS, EDGE	208x208
Samsung SGH p735		x				1.3 M
Samsung SGH-T809				2		1.2 M	GPRS, EDGE 10	320x240
Nokia 6230			x	x
Samsung SCH-a650	X
Sony-Ericsson K700i		x		x	FM	y	GPRS	176x220	7.6
BlackBerry 6230								160x100 mono
BlackBerry 7100				x			GPRS	240x260 color
BlackBerry 7250				x			CDMA 2000	240x160 color
BlackBerry 7290				x			GPRS	240x160 color
BlackBerry 8700c				x			EDGE, GPRS	320x240

Another option is to get a used phone on ebay.
With a GSM phone (AT&T or T-Mobile) you can just replace the SIM card with the one from your old phone (It can be from a different manufacturer). You have to stick to a phone from the same carrier (AT&T or T-Mobile) unless you get a unlocked phone which will work with either.
In 2009 I got a 3 1/2 year old Blackberry 8700 (2.5G) phone for $44. The same unlocked phone would cost about twice as much.
You can use pre-paid SIM with you and pop it into your phone in case there was ever a time when you wanted to have phone service but not be reachable by your usual number.

The easiest way to make sure everyone is compatible is to call the wireless provider with the phone's electronic serial number (ESN). It is on the back of the phone (maybe behind the battery).

CDMA phones (Verizon, Sprint) in the US do NOT have a similar capability. CDMA phones in China and S. Korea use a R-UIM card which does have this capability and is compatible with SIM cards.

• BlackBerry Desktop Manager (Sept. 2009) www.blackberry.com/mac
• Information Appliance Associates' PocketMac for BlackBerry 4.0
  PocketMac for BlackBerry works very much like Apple's iSync
  
• According to butterscotch.com Missing Sync is a better option but has a cost associated with it.

AT&T phones with QWERTY Keyboards
Sony Ericsson Software