T-Mobile’s Galaxy Note has been one of the worst-kept handset secrets in recent memory but the one thing the carrier managed to keep close to its proverbial chest is when its customers could actually go and get their hands on one. According to CNET, T-Mobile will begin selling its version of Samsung’s 5.3-inch phablet on August 8, for a cool $249 with a two-year contract.

Of course, whether or not you should buy one is another story entirely. Sure, there’s nothing wrong with the T-Mobile version per se — it’s nearly identical to the AT&T model, save for its lack of an LTE radio and the fact that it ships loaded with Ice Cream Sandwich. What really makes things dicey is the launch window that T-Mobile and Samsung have come up with.

You see, Samsung is expected to pull back the curtains on its “newest Galaxy device” just one week after T-Mo’s Galaxy Note goes on sale, and there are significant rumblings that said device is none other than the Galaxy Note 2.

If early reports hold true, the update should be a substantial one. South Korea’s MK Business News reported earlier this month that the new phablet will sort a quad-core chipset, a surprisingly beefy 12 or 13-megapixel camera, and an ever larger display — as if the Note didn’t already skew toward the unwieldy side of things. Samsung being Samsung, there’s no official word on what the company plans to unveil come the 15th — it may well be the oft-delayed Galaxy Note tablet — but it’s still a strong argument for staying at home and waiting to see what the Korean electronics giant has up its voluminous sleeves.