A lot of the user interface is hardware dependent. The look and feel of my HTC Incredible is nothing like my neighbor's Motorola Droid X (I think). I really like my phone ... she's not thrilled about hers.

If you're staying with AT&T, why not stay with an iPhone? DH just upgraded from an ancient iPhone 3G that didn't really work any more, to a new 3GS, for $50. Not only he didn't want to spend the money for an iPhone 4 that doesn't even do 4G, he'd heard too many people talk about reception/network issues, and experienced enough of them himself.

I think you can get refurb 3GS phones for even less than that.