I will assume you just need a basic phone I would have to say either the new razr2 or any of the Sony Ericsons they have. I have had good luck with sony ericson.
I recommend Sony Ericsson or Nokia. Whatever you do don't get a Samsung because my brother has one of the slide phones and they're horrible with reception.
I agree with you mostly but Samsung has come a long way specially in their high-end phones. The blackjack line of phones both in GSM and CDMA are excellent in built, call quality and reception. My blackjack exceeded my Nokia 6131 in all aspects. I am rather partial to the SE810 over the Nokias available presently. It comes down to personal preference and what you are comfortable with, use the trial period to give a couple of phones a trial run.