Pimp Out Your Dorm Room!
The best way to stay in touch with friends at other schools, or, naturally, family, is with a calling plan that doesn't cost much. At approximately $30 a year for unlimited calls anywhere in the U.S, Internet phone service Skype's deal is pretty much the bargain of the lot. Until recently, you had to use a dumb headset connected to your computer, but the new generation Internet phones let you bypass the computer and use Skype as if it were a regular phone (just plug them directly into your Ethernet outlet or router). This Philips dual-mode model also works with standard phone lines, letting callers easily switch between landlines and Skype lines, so you can access, say, a local inter-campus line (that may come standard with a dorm room) as well as your contact-jam-packed Skype network. We like this Philips model because it's small, stylish, and has the coolest collection of ringtones we've heard on a non-cell-phone.
