Couldn’t wait for the Pre and picked up an alternative Sprint phone?  Still languishing early in a two-year contract?  You can still buy Palm’s touchscreen marvel, but it’s going to cost you: according to Sprint, the off-contract price for the Pre is $549.99.

That’s the price for a phone without a contract, but it’ll still be locked to Sprint’s network so you wouldn’t, say, be able to use it with Verizon Wireless.  So if you don’t want a $550 Palm-branded paperweight, you’re still looking at Sprint’s minimum plan for the Pre, which is believed to be $69.99 including 450 minutes and unlimited data access.

Not a cheap handset, no, but most people will likely be able to sign up to the $199 subsidized price, and at least Sprint have given would-be buyers an option if they want to change devices without incurring an early termination fee (ETF).  That, incidentally, starts at $200 for the first six months, then reduces by $10 every month until a minimum of $50.