Probably it is necessary to have an actual device.  But I'd rather not have to buy a phone with a contract.  Is that possible?
Getting into windows phone 7 development -- what is the cheapest way?
windows phone 7
The WP7 emulator in VS 2010 is not just an Emulator, it's a virtual OS identical (MS words, not mine) to the one on the phone.  In theory when you develop in VS 2010 is should be no different than a physical device (GPS and such are handled a little differently of course).  All the other phone development environments (to my knowledge) use a traditional emulator and not a virtual OS.In my mind the only reason for a physical device is to test performance and UI responsiveness.