In the battle of Smartphone for quality & inexpensive value, which is better to buy an iphone or HTC phone?

[Teeny]

They are both about equal. Just get 4G on either the HTC with Android Operating System or the Iphone 4. I've had both. I now have the Android system with an HTC Thunderbolt. You can do more with the phone itself then Iphone, but Iphone currently has a bit more apps. Facebook, Twitter and all the social media stuff comes standard now. If you are looking to use it a lot for Facebook, I would say HTC with an Android op system. It allows you to have widgets and there is a facebook widget, which is basically a window on the phone desktop that lets you see your Facebook wall without having to open the program. HTC is fast at downloads but I think you may get better battery life with the iphone.
Hope this helps.