Bye-bye, big dongles. The Sierra Wireless Compass 597 for Sprint is a beefy, high-speed USB modem that actually looks like a diminutive USB memory stick: It's small, cute, and easy to use. And at $249.99 ($49.99 and up with contract), it's an inexpensive yet fast way to get online with Sprint's EV-DO Rev A network.

Measuring 1.1 by 3.1 by 0.4 inches (HWD), the Compass 597 is a light, black-and-silver stick with two blue LEDs displaying power and signal levels. The antenna is integrated and doesn't flip up as on some other devices. There's a microSD card reader on the side of the device, which accepted an 8GB SanDisk card without a problem. Transferring files on and off the card using the reader was unusually slow, though, at around USB 1.1 speeds.

Like all current Sprint modems, the Compass 597 supports Sprint's nationwide EV-DO Rev A network, which has maximum real-world download speeds of around 2.3 Mbps and maximum upload speeds of around 700 Kbps. EV-DO is part of the family of technologies called "3G," or third-generation cellular.

When the card is out of EV-DO range the Compass 597 drops to the much slower 1X system, with speeds around 100 Kbps. Sprint's high-speed data service plan is comparable with what Verizon and AT&T offer. Included is 5GB of data per month for $60. Overage charges are scarily high but seldom enforced. (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 instead.

Though you get connection manager software on a bundled CD, I say skip it and download Sprint's more advanced and stable SmartView program for XP, Vista, and Macs from Sprint's Web site. SmartView is much better designed than the previous Mobile Broadband client, and it 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.

The built-in GPS chip 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.

So with GPS, the microSD card reader, and a cool design, what's not to love here? Well, for one thing, I'm not convinced that GPS in a laptop is a useful feature. Keeping the laptop cracked open on your car's passenger seat seems a bit awkward, and when you're on foot, it makes more sense to use a GPS-enabled cell phone.

More important, the Compass 597 wasn't the speediest device we tested. When junior analyst Brian K. Neal and I compared the Compass 597 against other Sprint devices (specifically, the Novatel Merlin EX720, the Novatel Ovation U727, and the Sierra Wireless AirCard 597E) to measure comparative download speed, upload speed, and signal strength, the Compass 597 came in second to the Ovation U727 overall, if only by a narrow margin.

The Compass 597 posted an average download speed of 722 Kbps, with peaks at 1.8 Mbps. Uploads averaged 389 Kbps, with peaks at 618 Kbps. In terms of signal strength, the Compass and the Ovation were on a par, with the AirCard 597E trailing slightly, and the Merlin EX720 well behind.

The Sierra Wireless Compass 597 is an excellent wireless modem for Sprint. It's good-looking, portable, full-featured, and fast and easy to use. I recommend it wholeheartedly, especially if you get it for a sweet $49.99 with a new contract. But there can be only one Editors' Choice, and that goes to the Novatel Ovation U727 for being just a bit faster on our tests.

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