Searching for a good stock device? Don't write it off just for some bad customizations. If you're up to the task, find the best looking/specked phone for your price that has quality, active cyanogenmod support (all the hardware in the device works well w/ cm).

Saying this on hacker news feels a bit sacrilegious, but don't be afraid to get your hands dirty. The well supported phones have good wiki pages and rooting/flashing them isn't all that hard. But you will only have yourself to blame if it goes sideways.