Best Phone For a Wi-Fi-Only Location?

bendodge writes "I am planning on heading to a university in a remote area with very poor cellular service (the only signal is spotty Verizon voice, no data). However, the entire campus is thoroughly blanketed in Wi-Fi. I am trying to find the best and most economical 'Wi-Fi phone' or else hack one together. Belkin/Netgear sell what is essentially a portable Skype device for $180. These folks recommend outfitting an iPod Touch with a mic and VoIP apps. I am looking for something that can make and receive calls to and from landlines with incoming call notification. What experiences have Slashdot readers had and what would you recommend?"

Comments

Yes, the N900 is best, but avoid Apple regardless

[Weezul]

Apple will have all manor of roadblocks set up against using an iPod touch, like no multitasking, pulling telephony applications, etc. Just avoid Apple.

Imho, you should look at the Nokia N900 and Nokia's Symbian phones, but Android also offers support for Skype and SIP via third party applications. Symbian includes a separate SIP application from Nokia, and a Skype application exists too. You'll find suitable Symbian phones for way less than Android.

N900s however offer truly integrated SIP and Skype, which beats the pants off third party applications. You shouldn't expect that you'll use the N900 like a little computer however, sure the physical keyboard beats the pants off an iPhone's virtual keyboard, but we're still talking a very small keyboard.

Re:first gen iphone

[Khyber]

Or get yourself a cheap PSP with Skype on it and blow the piece of shit iPhone away.