Set it and forget it. That's the true value of an ExpressCard broadband modem. Ideally you just drop one into your laptop, leave it there, and enjoy high-speed wireless access wherever you can pick up a cell signal. If that's the type of simplicity you're looking for, the Sierra Wireless AirCard 597E ($329.99; $129.99 and up with contract) is the best way to connect to Sprint's EV-DO Rev A nationwide wireless network.

The AirCard 597E fits into laptops via an ExpressCard/34 slot, found on such notebooks as the Apple MacBook Pro and the Dell Vostro 1310. The chunk that sticks out of your laptop is about as long as your pinky, twice as long as the equivalent part on the competing Novatel Merlin EX720. There's no flip-up antenna, but there are two small LEDs that show power and signal information.

Like all current Sprint modems, the AirCard 597E supports Sprint's nationwide EV-DO Rev A network, with maximum real-world download speeds of around 2.3 Mbps and upload speeds of around 700 Kbps. EV-DO is part of the family of technologies called "3G," or third-generation cellular. When the AirCard 597E is out of EV-DO range, it drops to the much slower 1x system, with speeds around 100 Kbps. (In case you're wondering, 1x is a "2G" network.)

Sprint's high-speed data service plans is on a par with Verizon's and AT&T's. Basically you get a bucket of 5GB of data per month for $60, with fearsome but relatively rarely enforced overage charges. (Only Cricket, the tiny and relatively unknown cellular carrier, offers truly unlimited high-speed data.) Sprint's modems work in Canada and Mexico, but not overseas. If you're a world traveler, you'll want to go with an AT&T plan and device.

Though the AirCard 597E comes with connection manager software on a CD, I say skip it and download Sprint's more advanced and stable SmartView program for XP, Vista, and Mac's OS X from Sprint's Web site. SmartView looks slick and gives you a clear view of your signal strength and data transferred. It also has a VPN and a Wi-Fi connection manager built in, along with quick links to Sprint tech support and an animated speed test screen.

Like its USB cousin, the Sierra Wireless Compass 597, the AirCard 597E has a GPS chip built in that becomes active when you launch SmartView. The signal it receives is shared with PC applications using a virtual COM port. As a result, quick links in SmartView can provide Microsoft Live maps for the nearest restaurants, banks, hotels, gas stations, and coffee shops. But as with the Compass 597, I can't really figure out quite why you'd want GPS on your laptop, as opposed to having it in a more usable handheld size or car dashboard device.

PC Magazine Labs Junior Analyst Brian K. Neal and I subjected the AirCard 597E to a wide battery of speed tests. The device did very well, though the two USB modems we tested did a slightly better job of capturing a signal. On eight rounds of testing over two days in the New York metro area, we got an average download speed of 733 Kbps with peaks of 2.3 Mbps—the highest peak numbers we saw with any of the four Sprint cards we tested. This card also had the fastest upload speeds of those devices, with an average speed of 465 Kbps and peaks of 666 Kbps. Overall, its test results put it on a par with the Compass 597 and Novatel Ovation U727 USB modems.

I've long championed cellular USB modems over ExpressCard models because of their flexibility, which lets you connect to different laptops and PCs, all of which are likely to have USB. Still, there's a lot to be said for the simplicity of popping in an ExpressCard and forgetting about it. This is especially true if you use only one laptop and one card. If that idea seems appealing to you, the AirCard 597E will get you online with Sprint quickly and gracefully.

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