I'm thinking of getting the Braun 5270 Silk-épil that everybody's raving about.

I expect it to hurt a lot on my thick leg hair. How long does it take until it become relatively painless? Months?

I'd rather get laser, but I can't afford it for years, and I need another solution for smooth hairless skin.

I've heard that methods like waxing and rotary epilators can curl the follicles in the long term, which can make future laser more difficult. This is unfortunate, but I do need a solution to keep me hairless for the next few years until I graduate and have a good salary to afford something like laser. It's a hard decision to make.

Other areas: arms, upper legs, butt.

I've never heard of an epilator causing the follicles to curl. I'm pretty sure that cant be changed from using an epilator. Anyway I've been using an epilator on my legs for over 10 years and the hair is quite fine and spare now.
I never thought it hurt alot. I would think everyone is different as far as the pain level goes.

I am pain junky. For real. My idea of having good time is to go and get tattooed. I`ve used Braun Silk-epil for couple of years, and that thing is inhumane. I switched back to shaving after i realized it`s not worth it. Couple weeks ago i tried to do my underarms with it, and it was unbareable, so for someone with extremely high tolerance for pain, i`d say it`s not meant to be used on people. :)Little torture device...

It doesn't necessarily cause follicles to curl. It causes some hairs to be ripped out only half way out, thus creating ingrowns for many.

Also, epilating doesn't reduce the amount of hair. If you stop epilating for 3-4 months, you'll see all your hair return. It only appears that way while you're constantly removing it soon after it comes out. Same with waxing.

I agree. I had so many ingrown hairs, that epilating made things hardly worth it. Especially considering the pain. And it`s true, for about 6-7 months it appeared that i have less hair on my legs, but now they are all back looking exactly the same, if not worse.