I never liked BlackBerries either before the Curve. The Curve is CRAZY tiny for what it is (a smartphone with a full keyboard). I could have bought the Pearl, but I didn't like the keyboard. The old BlackBerries are hilariously big and clunky. If you're looking for something small, then yeah, touchscreen is definitely your way to go. Eliminates the need for having to dedicate real estate to the keyboard keys.
I'd describe the BlackBerry Browser as "functional" and nothing more. Bear in mind that I bought the Curve for email (my corporate server is BlackBerry, so I can get work and personal email on the same device), not web browsing, so the browser is kind of a neat little extra. However, it can't do Flash, so video is out of the question, and on EDGE it's pretty slow. I can do what I need to do (get to GMail, use the NWR forums, check ESPN.com, etc.) but the entire experience is stripped-down.
I could install Opera, but that's just another application clogging up my BB's memory. I've had it installed in the past and I always had crashes. Maybe I'll try a newer version.