If the official documentation about Android layouts isn’t so clear for you, then you should check the following article about all layouts in Android:
http://mobiforge.com/designing/story/understanding-user-interface-android-part-1-layouts

Note in most cases a RelativeLayout is the best solution for placing elements. (especially at list cells)

Here are some useful tricks about Android layouts:

Here is a solution to faster your listviews:
http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2009/02/android-layout-tricks-1.html

Another useful solution to reuse layouts and make code more consistent and easy to maintain:
http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2009/02/android-layout-tricks-2-reusing-layouts.html
http://android.amberfog.com/?p=9

Using ViewStub to quickly insert a new view:
http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2009/03/android-layout-tricks-3-optimize-with.html