Although there has been a lot of hype recently surrounding the rumored Samsung Galaxy Note 2, the original Galaxy Note still has some sparks left of its own. If you were waiting for wider availability, you're in luck. T-Mobile USA announced on Monday, July 30, that the 5.4-inch device will be available on its network starting Aug. 8 and will cost $249.99, after a rebate with a two-year service plan.

There's been quite a long wait for T-Mobile customers, as the Galaxy Note has been available on AT&T for nearly six months now. T-Mobile finally joins the party, and plans to make the wait worthwhile. Aug. 8 is just around the corner, and customers will be able to choose between two service plans for the handset. If you opt for the Equipment Installment Plan, you can get the Galaxy Note for $199 with a two-year contract. If, however, you want to opt for T-Mobile's standard plan, the device will cost $249.

The Galaxy Note originally shipped with Android 2.3 Gingerbread, but T-Mobile's version will come with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box. AT&T started offering the upgrade to ICS earlier this month. The device will likely be on the list for an upgrade to Jelly Bean as well, but with the Galaxy Note 2 expected soon there's no guarantee.

The T-Mobile Galaxy Note also includes the Ice Cream Sandwich Premium Suite upgrade, which comes with extensions for the Note's S Pen digital stylus capabilities. According to some reviewers, Samsung reportedly looked at the Premium Suite as a way to address problems with the original Galaxy Note's digital stylus. The original Galaxy Note sold more than 5 million units, surprising many skeptics who said the 5.3-inch handset is not practical for one-hand usage.

The Samsung Galaxy note "phablet" sports a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm S3 processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of built-in storage, and a microSD card for additional memory. It features a huge Super AMOLED display with a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. And for those of you who are interested in the basic phone functions as well, not just the gadgets, you'll be pleased to know that call quality on the Galaxy Note is surprisingly good. The earpiece doesn't go very loud, but volume is just fine. Meanwhile, the speakerphone can go extremely loud, so you can use it in loud environments with no problem. Transmissions through the mic are generally clear, though they can sound somewhat nasal at times. Moreover, voice cancellation is very effective and can tune out even loud background noises.

The Galaxy Note will also support T-Mobile's HSPA+ 42, which the carrier calls 4G, as well as T-Mobile's Wi-Fi calling, which allows users to seamlessly make calls over any Wi-Fi network.