I've been looking at options of things I can use in my home, but are compact enough to take on trips with little to no fuss. I think the Nokia N800 is precisely what I've been looking for, but want to make sure before talking to my husband.

We have a wireless network set up at home. The main issue is that our computers are upstairs, but I have two small children, so don't have the luxury to go up every so often to check email and such. Also, my husband's work allows him to stay connected to IMs so it would be nice to have a handheld device that I can chat with him rather than having to pick up the phone whenever I need to ask him a question.

We also frequently go to his father's, sometimes his mother's and very rarely to my mom's. They all have wireless networks set up, so I think this would be a good way to keep in contact with the internet without taking up their computer.

I also have family in California and Australia and we all keep in contact with Skype. I read that it is built in, but also read that the sound can be too soft.

So, do you think this would be a good choice for me considering all of these things?

A Nokia Internet Tablet would simply be perfect for those things and situations you mention. A large part of my usage pattern is as you describe. In addition I handle my work- and private email accounts with my N800.

I agree, the N800 is perfect. I have two ankle-biters as well, and I find it useful that I can surf when needed and still keep an eye on them while they are playing. You cannot go wrong for your intended usage.

Honestly, I really think an asus eee pc is a better choice for this usage. Being that pocketable doesnt seem to be a definite requirement, the addition of a keyboard would make a very big difference to you, as would the larger screen. I would think the most basic eee pc for around $300 would be ideal. The Nokia is a fun little device but as I see it the real benefit is pocketability. If that is not an absolute requirement I would always recommend larger screen size and Keyboard. For typing emails and IM's, the onscreen KB can do it but a real KB is a whole lot better.

I also had in mind this part:
As I said in my posting my usage pattern covers much of the same ground. I go to my sister's now and then, and I prefer bringing a pocketable device - most of the time I wouldn't have bothered to go and pick up and stove something larger.

I have three small children, and I find my N800 to be the perfect computing device to use around them. Like you, I didn't like leaving my kids unsupervised while I ran to another room to check email or Google something. If I brought a notebook computer out to where the kids were, they'd attack, wanting to bang on the keyboard.

My N800 doesn't have a keyboard upon which to bang, so it's uninteresting to my children. Due to the tablet's small size, I can hold it--fairly unnoticeably--in one hand when I'm using it, and keep it out of reach on top of the refrigerator when I'm not. My two year old will occasionally spot the tablet and inquire "Game?", but once I show her I'm not holding her mother's DS Lite she loses interest.

In the evenings, after the older two children are in bed, and I'm holding the youngest child, giving her a bottle to help her off to sleep, I can read RSS feeds on my tablet one-handed. It's quiet and not distracting, as the television can be.

I've also found it's handy to carry my N800 with me when we go out for pizza or to a doctor's appointment. If we have to wait a long time, and the kids become bored and begin acting up, I have the option of pulling out the N800 and playing one of the episodes of the Wubbcast I've saved to a SD card.

I carry my N800 at work and stay connected to IM. A few weeks ago, I was out of my office, running an all day training session in another building, and my wife was able to IM me to know two of the kids were sick with flu. It comes in handy.

In my experience, kids are irresistibly drawn to keyboards. The N800's lack of a keyboard is a benefit in my house.

Bought my wife an N800 when she was in third trimester. It was great for her in bed when even the Macbook became a little too heavy. She found Facebook very pleasant and Skype with a friend in London as well.
Best thing now as our newborn is 21 days old, is that it serves well as an instant choice for a preloaded 'lullaby' or three. ....this has proven very valuable at 1:20am, 2:15am, 3:40am...etc.
Why, she even called me in the horse stable via video chat(google talk) and showed great use as an 'intercom' be it video or just pure audio with mike built in.

The pocketability of the NIT's is a real advantage for this usage case. My kids are 2 and 4 years old, so things can go from calm to explosive in a second - the ability to quickly put the NIT away in my pocket, on a small shelf, etc and quickly tend to them is a big plus IMO. I have used it in all the scenarios described so far in this thread, and it is well-suited for all of them. The kids factor actually was the reason why I started to look into the NIT's in the first place. My computers are in the basement, but the kids play on the main level, so I wanted something that gives me the full internet in the palm of my hand. For the big stuff, I go downstairs after they are asleep to use the desktops.

Think about all the stuff you lug around when you travel with your kids - portability/capability of the NIT's is unmatched, especially if you want to minimize the amount of stuff you take along on trips with the kids! Just my two cents!

I agree with everybody here that it fits your needs perfectly - I recently got one (N810) for myself and my wife. We have a 2-year-old daughter running around, and it's been really useful. Actually, from my perspective, it's been almost "too useful" for my wife as she never opens up her laptop anymore and just uses the N810...meaning that I never really get to use it. And this of course means that I have a get another for myself . Oh well, just ordered it. So we'll have two of these things in a moment. We both love it, for most of our everyday computing needs it's simply a great replacement for a computer. And the N810 of course also doubles as a GPS navigation system on the road.

So, if you'll be using it a lot for chatting / emailing, I would recommend the N810 and not the N800, though. I know it's more expensive but after having used both of them (brother-in-law has the N800), I really prefer the little retractable keyboard for typing. You can see the whole chat screen or e-mail when you type (N800 covers up most of the screen with the on-screen keyboard when typing) and it's quick to just push it back in when your kids go crazy and tennis balls start hitting the TV. The N810 is also a tiny bit smaller and easier to put in a pocket than the N810 so if the price difference is not a big deal and espcially if you'd find the GPS features useful as well, I suggest you get that. At least our daughter doesn't seem too interested in the N810 even with the keyboard. It's just too small for her