Sprint's new unlimited data plan for tablets costs $20 per month, but caveats apply

Sprint has just announced a new unlimited data plan for tablet owners. The short version of the story is that Sprint's new unlimited data plan costs $20 per month. However, a range of caveats apply.

Right off the bat, it should be noted that Sprint's new unlimited tablet data plan has the same streaming limitations as Sprint's 'Unlimited Freedom' plan for smartphone owners. As such, video streaming is limited to 480p quality, music streaming is capped to 500kpbp, and online gaming streams are limited to 2Mbps.

Given that video consumption is one of the primary uses of a tablet, note that the quality of YouTube and Netflix videos will be drastically reduced. It's only if you're willing to part with $20 extra each month that you'll get 1080p videos, music streaming a 1.5Mbps, and gaming streams at up to 8Mbps.

Furthermore, the plan will cost you $20 per month only if you have an active phone plan with Sprint. If you don't (and you're unwilling to sign up for one) the cost raises dramatically to $70 per month.

Another caveat to take into consideration is the fact that those who get a tablet from Sprint at a discount will have to pay $10 extra per month. In other words, Sprint will be literally getting its discount back over time.

Last but not least, the $20/month rate is only good if you sign up for AutoPay, which means that Sprint will automatically get the cost of your plan at the start of each billing cycle.  

What do you guys think of Sprint's new unlimited data plan for tablets? Is it something that you're considering?