Can I use (via wifi only) my original VZW Droid without a voice or data plan?

I have a situation similar to https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/3897/can-i-use-an-android-phone-without-an-internet-access-plan but with one key difference, I don't even want to use it as a phone. Just a PDA. I have an original VZW droid, the phone powers up and I can start apps etc; however, I cannot even connect to WiFi (it tries and fails with an error that just says unable to connect, try again). Is this a limitation of the phone being ***not*** activated? I used to use this phone as my every day driver, but I've since upgraded to a new phone, but would still like to use this droid as a wifi web browser around the house.