The Novatel Wireless S720 is a good, fast PC Card for Sprint's new EV-DO Rev A network. In my tests, though, its competition came out with slightly faster downloads and lower latency times.

The S720 is one of four new devices for Sprint's EV-DO Rev A network, also known as "upgraded Power Vision." I tested the S720 in three Connecticut towns against the competing Sierra Wireless AC595 PC Card. Sprint's third PC Card, the Pantech PX500, was suffering from firmware issues that didn't allow me to test its Rev A speeds; the company's Novatel U720 USB dongle wasn't available yet.

When the S720—basically a compact card with a flip-up antenna—acquires a signal, a green light turns on. There's also an external antenna port on the side of the card. Like all of Sprint's PC Cards, the S720 uses Sprint's Connection Manager software on Microsoft Windows XP PCs. The card is not compatible with Mac OS machines, according to Sprint. I found the software pretty easy to install, and it worked on the first try; it also coexisted happily with other Sprint and Verizon connection managers. Connection Manager is a simple software panel with a clear button to let you open a connection. Unfortunately, the program doesn't show you what kind of network you're in before you connect. Once you click the connect button, depending on whether you're in EV-DO Rev A, the slightly slower Rev 0, or the much slower 1xRTT coverage, different-shaped arrows appear on the right-hand side of the panel.

On my tests in both Rev 0 and Rev A areas, the S720 got slightly slower download, but slightly faster upload speeds than the Sierra AC595. The S720's Rev A download speeds averaged 955 Kbps, with latency around 188 ms; in Rev 0 areas, it averaged 861 Kbps with latency of 228.5 ms. The Sierra card averaged about 100 Kbps faster on Rev A and 50 Kbps faster on Rev 0. Though the S720 had almost the same Rev 0 download speeds as the earlier Rev 0–only Novatel Wireless S620, it showed lower latency than the earlier card.

The S720 beat the AC595's Rev A upload speeds by a tiny bit, averaging 347.7 Kbps to the Sierra card's 327.6 Kbps. But that's not a big difference, and both cards peaked at an even 800 Kbps. All EV-DO cards performed pretty much the same way on Rev 0 uploads, with speeds in the 120–140 Kbps range.

The AC595 costs the same as the S720, $99.99 with a new two-year contract. Unlimited usage runs for $59.99 per month with a two-year contract. The S720 can also be used with Sprint's Linksys Wi-Fi router to spread broadband across a Wi-Fi hot spot.

The Novatel Wireless S720 is a very good card for a positively terrific network. But with two cards at the same price, I have to make a choice. I'll pick the Sierra Wireless AC595 by a nose.