I'm not sure that wikis and faqs are the place to start. The scenario I see is this:

Joe has a problem or question with his (her?) n900.
Joes types a few related words into a search engine.
Search engine directs Joe to a thread on this forum.

That's how I got here, and I think it's how most newbies will get here. If Joe is well accustomed to bulletin boards he might do a search for a relevent thread. He's more likely to post in the thread he lands up in, or open a new thread. Regardless of relevence, or how many threads on that subject already exist. (Resistive v Capacitive? Shipping date?... )

The problem is that highly technical poeple have highly tidy minds, and are likely to make some comment about using the FAQ, search engine or wiki. Joe wants a person to answer his problem, not a wiki.

I really like the idea of a sticky - or even a small subforum (of n900? vBulletin does subfora!) for newbies. I also like the idea of having a few folk who are not techie types to keep the patience and keep signposting poor lost Joes to the information they need.

That doesn't need to be people who're highly skilled: it can be those of us who've got a fairly basic grasp - and know who to ask for something complicated!