Have you thought of the Blackberry Storm? I don't have one, but I like that you click the touchscreen so you have to be pretty freakin' sure you wanna push that button.
ETA: Here's a review with pros and cons:
http://gizmodo.com/5060378/blackberr...first-hands-on
Just like with the iPhone, I'm sure eventually there will be hacks you can do to get it to run on any network you want, not just Verizon.