Best wireless device for surfing the net?

It really depends on your surfing. A cellphone allows access with a small screen. A laptop allows greater flexibility IMO. I always use my laptop even though I have cellphone capability. However, I rarely use my laptop outside of home or hotel for anything where security is a concern. You can get a decent laptop for $500 or less. A cellphone will have monthly access fees. Since you appear to be just getting your feet wet, when accessing websites, an address HTTPS is secure, whereas HTTP is not. This means the site is secure, not your access.
If you just want to surf for general info, addresses etc a cellphone may suffice.
As with lapdances, everyone has a preference.

I may check out the iphones. I'm not new to surfing the net, just new to using wireless devices and all the little things they offer or charge for. I want to access certain internet sites away from home but not pay an arm and a leg for internet access away from home. I'll have to check on coverage in different areas too I suppose so the signal is there to pick up wireless access.

If you don't mind the small screen, iPhone (or iPod Touch, if you're looking for wireless and not the cell phone capabilities) is an outstanding option. I use a Touch at work, in hotels, airports, etc. I have a web-enabled Sprint cell phone (ironically HTC Touch) that is great for e-mail, passable for web access. I think most of the cell providers toss in virtually unlimited access to the 3G network for @$20 a month on top of the usual fees.

If you don't mind the extra size, all the "netbooks" on the market offer a larger screen but not pocketable. Haven't looked into them but I suspect it's strictly wireless access, like iwth the iPod Touch.

You can also check out an Internet Tablet like the Nokia N810. I have one and use it frequently. All you need is a wifi connection, which can be your cell phone if you have something like an iPhone or Nokia E71 (which you can download free software to turn it into a wifi router). The cell phone is a little slower, so when home or in hotels I use wireless router on the network.

Thanks for the info. I'll have to check into those.

I own a Blackberry (which I LOVE) but I have to say, it's not really a "net surfing" device. It's more, a "get information in Blackberry-friendly format" device, and if the provider of the info hasn't made the info Blackberry-friendly (or, in general, mobile-phone-friendly) then you probably are going to have a hard time finding the information. The small screen of a mobile-phone has a thousand problems for the notion of SURFING, because you just can't navigate it effectively. Some people claim that their I-Phone allows true surfing -- because you'll have mouse-like interactivity at any point on the screen, rather than having to rely on the Blackberry's trackball-software to "recognize" the hot-buttons on a web page. I still think that even the I-Phone is prohibitively cumbersome for surfing.

The best thing about a mobile-phone that's "internet ready" is that it tweets you (however you want to set it up) for incoming emails, weather alerts, traffic info, or whatever else you set up. I'm regularly on the go. I do CARRY a laptop, but I hate having to BOOT IT UP and then FIND INTERNET SERVICE. I used to have to mentally reserve forty-five minutes every morning for going to a computer, booting up, getting the internet running, logging in, checking my work and school Outlook server, deciding which messages to deal with, and then finally writing some replies. Now, I just ignore almost everything that comes in, because I've gotten a Blackberry-ized version of it on my phone. On those few occasions when there's something that's both (a) pressing and (b) only dealt with via a "real" computer, THEN I know that I have to go log in somewhere. Otherwise, the Blackberry essentially de-tethers me from the laptop.

Another suggestion, is a micro-laptop. Companies are now developing these things called net-books. I own an Asus EEE-PC. I got the top of the line, and it cost less than $350, SHIPPED. It's not ideal -- the processing power is rather much lower than what is available on real laptops these days, but it's still more powerful than most of the other computers that I still have lying around, simply because it's newer. It weighs very little, and fits into a backpack more like a large book would fit, rather than having to be its own huge laptop-compartment-sized thing. It can be stuffed into any bag. But, it requires "real" internet connection -- like, at a coffee shop -- whereas, the Blackberry or I-Phone (or a card-plus-service-package which you buy from AT&T or another provider, which you then stick into your laptop) would allow internet anywhere that you can get cell-phone coverage.

Making sense? Summary:

I love my Blackberry, but not because it "surfs" the net. More because it notifies me when things come in -- any things which I have set up to notify me. And it doesn't notify me when other things come in -- any things which I have not chosen to notify me. I-Phone users sometimes claim they can "surf" but I don't believe them. Net-books would allow "surfing," but also would require a legitimate "for-real" internet connection, like you can get in a coffee shop (though it's not always free).

casualguy asked, "If I wanted to surf the web on the go, what is the best device out there?"

Netbook. Sub-$500 small laptop computer with wi-fi, and some can be configured for cellular access via providers like Verizon or AT&T. It surfs, where phones can only view certain web content in a fashion.