Hey,
Yeah, I went the goldcard route for HTC Sense 2.2.
Basically:
1) Bought at BB for full price - didn't get any hassle about registering with Telus.
2) Got home, got unlock code (since I'm with Fido) from CellUnlock.net for $19.99.
3) Popped in my Fido SIM, got prompted by the phone for my unlock code (which I had received by email), and that was that.
At that point, I had the standard Telus HTC Sense based on Android 2.1. There's no real Telus "branding" (no Telus logo or anything)...just a Telus scene pre-configured, that's all.
So, next step, I decided to upgrade to the unbranded HTC Sense based on Android 2.2.
For that, I followed the instruction in the
Froyo RUU update available thread.
First was creating the GoldCard...I used this site:
Debranding / Unlocking an HTC Desire - The giffgaff community
Make sure you have HTC Sync installed...After that, once you have your Goldcard in...leave phone in USB drive mode...and run the HTC Update (.exe) file you find in the first post of the Froyo RUU update thread...
That does everything for you...boots the phone in the proper mode, etc...and it's done in 5-10 min about...