[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] kbonnel:
As for repercussions, it all depends on what you are willing to put up with. The deal itself is pretty straight forward, in that you sign up for an 18 month lease ($5 per month for 18 months), with the option to return the phone at the end of the 18th months, or decide to keep it and pay the remaining 6 months (Purchase Option Price, or something like that, I don't remember the exact wording). The nice thing about the lease, is there are no restrictions on you paying it off the first day, which basically costs you: $25 initial purchase price at checkout + $5*18 ($90) + $5*6 ($30 POP) + taxes. So $145 + taxes. Before you actually checkout and hit the submit button, you will be provided a copy of the Flex Lease agreement that breaks down the monthly payment, total payments, and the POP (purchase option price). So potentially the cheapest you could get the phone for, without taking into account any other costs (see below) is $145 + tax.

Of course, there could also be some additional costs to take into consideration, such an activation fee ($30). If you do this in a store that has some stock, you generally will have to pay the $30, though Sprint may still be waiving this fee if you order online. A shipping fee of ($10), i.e. if there are no local stores that have stock of the phone for local pickup (which eliminates the $10), and potentially 50 days of service if you phone isn't unlocked after you pay it off initially. For most folks taking advantage of this deal, it seems that as soon as you pay off the phone/lease (like the first day you get the phone and activate it), your phone will be unlocked eligible about 2 - 3 days later. You can check this by performing a UICC unlock request within the about phone, ODAM settings (again, can't remember if this is the exact menu title, but if you look through the first page of the slickdeals thread, it breaks it all down). However, there is no guarantee that it will be unlocked during the first couple of days after payoff, so it is best to go in with the understanding that it could take 50 days before Sprint will officially unlock your paid off phone, so assume $80 for phone service for 2 months. (The $45/2gb plan, with $5 discount with autopay)

So, a top end price of the phone could potentially be: 145 + tax + 30 activation + 10 shipping + 80 service cost. (or approx. $265 + tax)

Finally, one thing people don't talk about, is in order to sign up for Sprint and add a line (if you are a new customer), is that they will perform a credit check. If you were planning on getting a loan, or in the process of buying a house, etc., I would avoid getting any credit pulls at this time. (But that is just me :) ).

With that in mind, you have to decide is a high end price of $265 + tax a good enough deal. Personally, I still think it is a great deal for this phone.

What most people appear to be doing, who have no interest in actually using Sprint, is paying off the device as soon as possible, getting it unlocked in 2 - 3 days after payoff, and then canceling service, all within the 14 day satisfaction window. Some folks say Sprint will prorate the service fee, others say you will have to pay at least 1 months service. The deal is has only been out for a couple of weeks, so there isn't a 100% understanding of this yet.