I like my Dare, it does a decent job. Not as smooth as an iPhone, but my battery actually lasts more than a day. I also get great calling and no drops. The browser is no where near as good as the iPhones, but I keep a stylus (I bought a Nintendo DS 3 pack) with me and it makes the browser much more usable. The problem with the browser is it's a little slow at times and clicking can be impossible with fingers, but the stylus makes it much easier.
The Dare also is much different in touch than the iPhone. The iPhone you can just lightly scroll and it reacts instantly. The Dare is much more of a dragging motion. It took me a day to get use to, but it works fine. Also you can text with the keyboard horizontally, which doesn't seem possible on the iPhone.
The Dare monthly plan also seems cheaper than at AT&T. I have a family plan and I think I pay like $60 for my Dare with the $15 VPAK (wireless internet and all the Verizon on demand videos available). Plus it seems any game you download now costs MB usage. The VZ Navigator also works quite well. I just buy 1 day purchases when I need it ($2.99), which isn't very often since I can just google map it with the browser.
Again it nowhere compares to the iPhone (especially with how it syncs up with a Mac), but I think it does a better job at just being an actual phone.
Just my 2 cents.