Slightly late to the party, but I definitely recommend the Samsung Omnia/i900.
Was dithering between that and the iphone 3G and other touchscreens from HTC and Sony. But the samsung won hands down in terms of user friendliness.
But if you text/email obsessively, should think of getting one with a fold out keyboard (ie, no to samsung omnia and the iphone), maybe the Sony Xperia?
Good luck posh!