Which root-able mobile phone (meaning no (or minimal) annoying firmware or hard wired limitations) has the best hardware (fast cpu, lots of memory) so it can be rooted and used not only as a phone but as a hand-held computer?

Kind of a vague question. I can only assume you are asking about Android handsets here, but not sure what you mean by "firmware or hard wired limitations". Do you mean you want something that works with one of the automatic rooting applications that is available in the Marketplace? Or do you need it to have an accessible bootloader so you can run custom ROMs? Rooting an Android phone is a totally different thing than replacing the firmware. You also don't need to root the phone to use it as more than a phone...that is sort of the point of smartphone in the first place. Is there something specific you want to do that you want/need root access for?

With all that aside, what carrier are we talking about? Or even what country? That is going to have the largest impact on your hardware choices.

Broadly speaking, the most expensive ones. And, whatever you decide on, by next year, today's hardware will look a bit sad.

Good points.

1. In terms of firmware/ hard wired limits, I refer to those things that would cripple/limit my ability to go in and either wipe and replace entirely, or add a new OS. For example, right now I have an AT&T dumb phone. It has NINE pre-set AT&T addresses hard wired into the chip that stores one's contacts. You CANNOT get rid of them. Hence one has to go through all kinds of entry modifications and contortions in order to put friends at the top and very bottom and the AT&T pre-set crap in the middle. I want to avoid that type of nonsense if possible.

2. An accessible bootloader would be great, but that gets into the memory capacity issue: Do I have enough space for more than one OS?

3. Yes, I know I don't have to root a smart phone to use it as a smart phone, but the point of tinkering is to poke, prod, and explore. Basically, I'm curious about what I could make a smart phone do, and I figure getting the most capable hardware would allow me to explore the most.

I think you might have the wrong idea about smartphones in general. They aren't computers, you won't be loading multiple operating systems on them. The only serious choices out there are Windows Phone 7, iOS, or Android. If you want to tinker with the OS and have the most freedom, then you are going to want Android.

It sounds like you are looking for a phone that is running stock Android, of which there are actually very few. Most have carrier-customized versions of Android, which can limit your freedom slightly (I.E. being unable to install carrier supplied or branded applications). Your best bet then would be to get a phone that is able to run one of the community builds of Android, like Cyanogenmod.

Beyond that, like salasi said, generally speaking the more expensive the phone the better the hardware. Read the Cyanogenmod compatibility list, and see what the highest-end phone is for your carrier and get that.

Thanks. That is exactly what I was asking, just couldn't state it clearly

I Googled 'Cyanogenmod compatibility list' & got too many results, then '"Cyanogenmod compatibility list"' & got none, could you give us the link please?

The main page of the Cyanogenmod Wiki lists the supported devices, and each device has a page that lists installation steps, known bugs, etc.

CyanogenMod Wiki

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