Doesn't the Chrome EULA basically state that Google gets to collect data from Chrome as well as all other browsers on one's computer? I might be wrong, but if not, I'm sure most browsers probably have a similar EULA. Anyhow, that's why I don't use it. Functionally, it seems like a fine browser.
Google also states exactly which parts of Chrome collect data so you can turn them off. It's in the EULA only to protect their hides from people that don't realize how technologies like Instant Search in the URL bar or using "My Location" for relevant results work. Chrome doesn't just send your usage data off because it can. Plus you can easily turn those off in the preferences.
On to browsing habits, though:
My browser of choice has changed as the browsers themselves have. I haven't used Safari as my primary browser in a while, though I did once feel conflicted over whether I liked Safari's clean UI and snappy performance or Firefox's power, security and vast array of extensions and options more. When Chrome was released, it completely pushed Safari out of the picture, because it was just as fast if not faster and did a better job of making a UI that managed to pull off being functional and clean at the same time (a sentiment Firefox's and Safari's dev teams both seem to have agreed with given the changes in their default themes that came in the following months). Plus the extension scene on Chrome, while not at Firefox's level, put the options on Safari to shame, and Chrome actually had even better security features than Firefox. Tabs as separate processes was a pretty cool idea attached to that as well, since it made the browser inherently the most stable one on the market. So for the longest time now, I've been using Chrome as my primary browser.
This has started to shift in the last couple months: Firefox has been making large strides towards not feeling like something that should be a museum, and the beta of version 7 in particular is quite good. I only wish now that Firefox's main dev team cared a little bit more about its performance on non-Windows platforms. I now find myself using Firefox a lot, with Chrome mainly being used when I want to use Google services extensively, especially since the advent of Google+. They run on other browsers, of course, but there is definitely a little bit of a performance edge when using Chrome. Safari has actually slipped even lower than it was previously in my rankings, due in part to advances other browsers have been making and in part to Apple's failings in the design of Safari 5.1, specifically with regards to the crippling of privacy preferences and RAM inefficiency the likes of which has rarely been seen before.
Getting to your original question, though, OP, as you've already discovered, sometimes different browsing habits call for different browsers. If you're curious about Chrome, Seamonkey, Camino, Lynx or even Opera, try using only it for a while and decide whether you think it's a better option than what you have for overall browsing or even just for specific purposes. You my find something you like.