I've been holding off from upgrading my Droid 1 for the longest time because no one is releasing good Android phones with physical keyboards (on Verizon). It looks like the Droid 4 might be my only option. I share your hate for on-screen keyboards, at least on phones. I have discovered though that the on-screen keyboard can be enjoyable to use on a larger screen (10" tablet).

I switched from a Droid 1 to a Droid 4 a few months ago, and I have no regrets. I had done the whole CyanogenMod thing and tried to extend the life of my Droid, but in the end I needed a new phone and was happy to see Motorola still building phones with hardware keyboards.