Unless that's the unlocked version of the Note 2, you can buy it for that price right now from carriers if you renew your contract. It actually went for $249 from Sprint on
Wirefly Friends a few weeks back. Right now, it's on Wirefly for
$279.
(One of the original sources:
http://www.tmonews.com/2012/10/samsu...refly-friends/)
I've been deliberating about whether to buy one as a replacement for my Galaxy S for the past two months. The new HTC Droid has an awfully nice screen which is nearly as big as that of the Note 2 and, like that of every other high-end phone we're likely to want in the future, has post-retina* resolution.
* Post-retina = A higher ppi count than the iPhone 4's display.