Pretty good deal to say the least, as you may already know HP had just bought Palm couple of months ago, and today we see that HP is selling Palm Pre and Pixi on its website (Wireless Central).

Sprint hasn't been able to meet up ATT's pricing when comes to the Pre and Pixi, which they are selling sell the phone for $49 dollars with a 2 years contract.

Sprint charges significantly less each month for the bill, so most phones will cost more up front, simply because they can't afford to subsidize them as much.

but that being said, it may also have more to do with pushing to get the ATT/VZW stock dwindled down to Sprint levels before announcing the new hardware.

source: precentral