Help with Prepaid data plans and smart phones

[inquisitor]

Originally Posted by MATHA531

So here goes. I need suggestions on a relatively cheap smart phone where I can load android apps.

You'll find Android phones starting from € 100, but I won't recommend these as they have slow processors, little battery life and haven't got Android updates for a while and won't get any in the future.
There are two relatively new phones, that give very good value for money since prices have come down in view of their successors appearing soon. One is the Motorola Milestone 2 (the European version of the Droid 2), which has a very handy hardware keyboard and has been offered here in Germany for ~ € 220.
The other is the Samsung Nexus S, Google's flagship phone, which features NFC-technology (relevant for soon to be introduced payment services) and a front-facing camera that allows video calls (e.g. free of charge via Google Talk) and sells at ~ € 250 recently. Another advantage of the Nexus S is it's support of the American 1700-MHz frequency (so-called "AWS band") so you could use it even on T-Mobile's 3G network in the US, while the Motorola Milestone 2 would only work on AT&T's and T-Mobile slow 2G networks.
In the US they also sell another version of the Nexus S, which supports AT&T's 3G frequencies (850 and 1900 MHz) besides the primary European 3G band at 2100 MHz.
So if you happen to be a AT&T or T-Mobile customer you should consider buying a phone, which you could use at home and in Europe.