I'm sorry, but no. I understand it has a strong modding community but it is hardly the "best android phone". First, it has little storage for apps -- even rooted I ran out of memory for apps. Then there is the tiny 3.2" screen. For what it is, as an older Android phone for beginners, it does fine. But now, especially if you are wanting a beginner phone, the Optimus Elite is a much better beginner phone (more memory, larger screen, supports Flash, etc.). I'm sure you'll bring up the point that the Elite does not yet have the modding community the V does, then again, beginners typically are not modders.
Which brings me back to the Evo V, which also has quite a few mods available as the mods for the Evo 3D only need minor changes to work on Evo V -- giving those modders a huge head start. Plus it has a large screen, lots of storage, etc.