There are some decent CDMA phones for VM, with a pretty good one coming in a few weeks.
Yes, it sucks that it can't be used in the rest of the world, and when I go to Europe I use a GSM phone (this year I will use my N900).
The daily pass is quite expensive if used often. Besides, I have almost no T-mobile coverage at home, but I have some Sprint coverage, and it would be nice to use my phone at home too..