Buddy1065

Got one a few days ago at a Kiosk in the mall. Where my Sprint A900 phone tethered by USB only got about 400 Kps this new EX720 averages 1074 Kps in the same location using my 2.33 Ghz Macbook Pro. The EX720 is finally here and in my opinion it ROCKS!

Scoot

i am glad they finally got it released
and i am happy for you i am waiting on evdo to get here so i can get a data card

j2k

i can't wait till we get those...we lose a lot of aircard/data sales due to sprint not having an expresscard.

Scoot

yeah tell me about it now you support dell and mac you all should be doing alot of business when you get them in

Buddy1065

Before purchasing I learned that Apple now has just released its software update for the card as well as other WWAN devices.

Now I have been using my Sprint A900 phone USB tethered to my Macbook Pro/Powerbook 17"/Sony T250 laptop with no problems out of either laptop for about a year now. Even connected by Bluetooth yeilded no problems; the random disconnections with the Powerbook were terminated by unchecking the "send echo packets" and "compression" options.

I figured it would be interesting to compare the speeds of each device before I discontinue the use of my A900 phone as a modem.

Once I got my hot little hands on the EX720 I inserted the install CD and followed the directions up until it prompted me for the numbers which I had my salesman make sure were on my contract so I would not have to call Sprint. Things went well and I was online in Bootcamp using XP.

Now it was time for OSX. I did the software update for the WWAN cards first and then I shoved the card in. I went online and did some speed tests.
This is the latest test I did inside the building of my job:

A900 phone gave 540 Kbps download and about 90 up
EX720 Express card gave 1074 Kbps download and 291 up

These figures were from an average of 5 readings of each device. The maximum of the 5 readings for the EX720 was 1445 Kbps. Of course, your speed may vary dependng on your location AND if you are in a Rev A zone.

In short, the EX720 seems to be wicked fast compared to the Sprint A900 phone used as a modem by its USB chord.

I notice that I get much faster speed readings in OSX, which were given in this test for both devices.

Verdict: if you want to save $20 per month and get a reliable device using either USB chord or Bluetooth, the Sprint A900 is a great choice, but if you want more speed and not having calls blocked or your internet download interrupted when a call comes in, the EX720 is my recommendation; I have no regrets so far.

Thanks for the comments!