Several months ago I purchased a Netgear sph200d skype phone. It provides voip service via Skype that is suprisingly reliable with decent quality. Previously I had always thought of skype as nothing but a handy gadget to have on a computer for online keyboard chat and the occasional voice chat. Thats changed!

(One year later. I'm still using this skyphone. Works great!)

The skypephone comes with a handset, charger and base unit that connects via ethernet cable to my router. Its completely self-contained and doesnt require a computer to be on all the time.

The voip quality is quite good and the skype service allows for a skypein phone number and skypeout calling to any telephone in the USA and Canada for real cheap! Probably around 100 bucks a year. Thats per-YEAR not per-month! Its become my main telephone. There are a few of these things out there put out by several different companies. Maybe they are about the same or maybe not. I'm very happy with the phone and with skype right now.

More later...