The n:vision CFLs sold by Home Depot are not dimmable, but they are cheap: $8 for a 4-pack of 60W equivalent. They come in 3 color temperatures from sunlight to warm white, which is close to incandescent light.
We have a few old dimmable Philips Earthlights, which work well with ordinary lamp modules. We bought them several years ago, and I recall they were pretty expensive. One finally started to flicker, so I replaced it with one of these new n:vision bulbs. The color temperature looks about the same.
There are listings on eBay for cheap dimmable compact fluorescents. I haven't used any of them myself. Perhaps some people here have, and could report on how well they work.
Virtually all our CFLs are used in simple on/off applications. Most of our dimmable fixtures use the small decorative flame-shaped bulbs. I wonder how the legislation will deal with them...
Jeff