I've been debating about getting an EVDO card for some time now. A few weeks ago I bit the bullet and bought a modem and signed up for unlimited service with Sprint for $59.99/month. My quick review: Why didn't I do this months ago?
One of the things holding me up was form factor, specifically PC Card or Express Card. I worried that I'd buy a PC Card modem which is what my PowerBook G4 would need, then later I'd need to switch out to an Express Card if I ever upgraded to a MacBook Pro. A little while back I asked for some opinions on which EVDO service to try, Verizon or Sprint. One of the folks that commented was a Sprint EVDO engineer. He and I exchanged some e-mails and he provided me with a ton of good information. His suggestion was to go with the Sierra Wireless 595U USB modem, that way it would work with any machine.
While the modem does stick out a bit, when you think about it being one big antennae, it's better than a card that inserts in a card slot.
I've always been a Sierra Wireless fan. Way back in the day, 1999 that is, I had a HP Jornada 680 with a Sierra Wireless CDPD modem. With that little Jornada keyboard and a wireless modem I was a true nomad. I loved that device combo...but I digress. Looking over the cards offered by Sprint I was always going to go with Sierra Wireless over a Pantech or other device.
Installation on the Mac was easy, I just had to download the Watcher application from Sierra's web site. Some things never change. The watcher app had the same little card with wings like it did back in '99 when I used it on Windows CE.
So far the speed has been great and in some cases it's faster than my DSL at home...that's sad. Last week I used the card extensively at BlogPhiladelphia when the wifi was overloaded. I used EVDO to upload the majority of my photos from the event without any issue.
One of the cost justifications for EVDO is that you never have to buy internet or wifi in a hotel or airport again. In the past week I have found this to be true. I stayed at a Westin and a Raddison and in both cases I used only the EVDO (saving $20). I have also been to Houston and Atlanta airports and didn't need to pay for wifi (saving $16.95). Give me a few more days and I've paid for this month's worth of service.
Another factor is my virtual office status. I tend to work at coffee shops and other locations that offer wifi. This of course limited my choices since some of my favorite lunch spots don't offer wifi. I don't need to worry about this anymore.
Why didn't I do this months ago?
Visitor Comments
Good luck with that 595U. it caused kernel panics for some OSX users; the sierra watcher app is reportedly compiled for PPC and not a universal app (that makes no sense since expresscard slots are only on MBP); and that internal battery is engineering hype (even got the product managers to fess up -> http://www.evdoforums.com/thread6289.html )
The U720 would have been the better choice. Even your sprint engineer friend uses one!
Posted by: Alex | July 20, 2007 11:14 AM
Josh. I'm glad you went that route. That's the card I reccomended as well. I used it for a few days and loved it! Great speeds and doesn't really hurt the battery life of my MacBook Pro.
If I travelled more, I would buy one for full time use since Wi-fi costs are huge at some places. i hope this trend forces places to lower the price on their wireless access.
Posted by: Adam Jackson | July 20, 2007 11:33 AM
I have the 595U. I have experienced the kernel panics also. I believe I have found the cause, after many trials and errors. You can't close the lid or put the machine asleep while the EVDO card is connected and plugged into the USB port. You must disconnect before closing the lid and no more kernel panics.
Posted by: Scott Harrington | July 21, 2007 8:34 AM
Josh --
I too had a Jornada, but hated it. Its pitch was it allowed you to do 90% of what a computer could do. My pitch was, yes, but it's the other 10% that will cause you to want to throw the damn thing against a wall. But I digress.
Good to see your review of Sprint on here. Cingular wireless came as a sim card on my laptop and I've been wanting to throw that against the wall. It works in 90% of all places you go, but 90% of the time when you need it (as in smaller cities) it either does not exist or is too slow to work. I will check out sprint in the hopes it will keep me out of spending half my day in a Starbucks when I go visit my parents next week.
Posted by: China Law Blog | July 24, 2007 6:09 PM