Best Alltel phone for custom (mods, hacks, etc).

[LimaEchoEcho]

I'm going to be getting a new Alltel phone soon, and I'm wondering which direction I should go. I'm thinking about going with either a Palm Treo or one of the HTC phones.

I want to be able to make some changes to it if I want, but it needs to be a "tough" phone. I work outside with my hands getting dirty a lot, so a touch screen might not be my best bet. Sliders are also probably not a good bet.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.