The ever-popular "recommend me a phone to buy" thread

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OK, so here's the situation:
I currently have a standard voice + data plan with Verizon, and I have a dinky old-school cellphone to go with it. My contract will soon enable me to upgrade with a large discount...so I was thinking of (finally!) upgrading to an android-based phone. I'm a developer/hacker of random things, and I'd really like to mess around with the platform

Anyways...I was wondering if there is a way I could put an android phone on my current Verizon plan (read: not obtaining a data plan). It's fine if this requires me to buy the phone out of contract for more money initially...I just have never been able to stomach the data plans' pricing.

Additionally, I would like a phone capable of running the latest OpenGL ES standard available on whatever the latest android version is. However, I have heard that it's possible to upgrade even the G1 to android 2.2, so I'm not sure how much of an issue this would be...

Thanks in advance

To be honest, I really doubt Verizon would let you get an android phone without a data plan. The worst part about CDMA providers is that you're really locked down, and they can watch your IMEI and adjust your plan accordingly.