Eight minutes with the 875U AirCard

I'm back home from the AT&T store to give you eight minutes with the 875U. I can't overstate how large this AirCard is; should be fine for most notebooks, but UMPC owners will want to take this into consideration. I'll be testing the actual power drain on the Q1P when using this card since it does have an internal battery. I've tried to use the card without the battery but it won't work. Honestly, I'm on the fence with this device for my personal use. It might be just the ticket for some folks, but I'll be carefully weighing the pros and cons over the next 30 days. I was very impressed by the download speeds when in an HSDPA coverage area; better than what I've had with EV-DO. But is that enough to overcome the bulk and potentially large battery drain?

Comments

[jkkmobile]

That battery is there to handel the current spikes... usb gives only 500mah but hsdpa likes over 1 A sometimes. spesially on startup..

I have been using that for a while and noticed that it uses less power than wifi...

U could use a usb cable with it like u do with your phone?

... or u could replace q1's wifi with this pci-e module inside that usb box...

[Kevin C. Tofel]

I haven't checked the power drain yet, but if it uses less power than WiFi, that's a bonus. I found a two-foot female to male USB cable in my pile o' gadgets and already used that to reduce the bulkiness of the modem. Still, not ideal. I won't put the module in the Q1P for two reasons: one, I'm not sure it would fit both the module and the SIM. Two, I need to use this modem across multiple devices: a MacBook Pro, the Q1P, a Tablet and a laptop. As a result, I'm not cracking this open...

[Stephen Hill]

I'm curious as to where you will be using this device? I assume primarily on the road, at the coffee shop, etc. I look at the coverage viewer for your part of eastern Pennsylvania and it didn't seem to show a very comprehensive 3G area. Do you have 3G coverage at home? At your favorite coffee shop? I've got quite a bit of travel this fall and am thinking about taking the 3G plunge...

[Rodfather]

Thanks for the video Kevin.
I posted my thoughts in my brand spanking new mobile tech blog (shameless plug)
http://rodfather.wordpress.com/2007/08/15/kevin-gets-a-usb-hsdpa-modem/

The thing we need to do, is have Steve 'Chippy' Paine open up his Samsung Q1B HSDPA and start taking pictures. I'm curious where they put the SIM Card slot and especially, the antennae.

[Steve Paine]

Rodfather
How much to open the Q1b? ;-)

Kevin
You're having the same problem as I did. Those USB HSDPA modules are PHAT!

My experience:
http://www.umpcportal.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=521

I'm happy with tethering BUT, i'm learning fast that built in HSDPA is the way to go.

Steve

[JKK]

q1b is totally different from inside compared to q1 and q1p...

http://jkkmobile.blogspot.com/2007/04/no-led-backlight-in-q1b.html

... but to see the module and antenna u have to pay Steve ;)

[Rodfather]

Heh. Aw come on. I don't want Steve to void his warranty or anything.. but it's for a good cause. To help people (me) around the world make their life easier getting online while sitting at bars.

[Rodfather]

@jkk:
Cool. Looks like they stick the antennae right above the VGA port
http://flickr.com/photos/adams_chuang/360043405/in/set-72157594483922505/

[engineering]

Thanks to the integrated battery working modem settings will be saved even if the power supply. GPRS, EDGE HSDPA-New compatible with GPRS, EDGE and HSDPA- services, so that the modem will be able to work in many countries around the world... . Users can send and receive data at speeds of up to 384 kilobits per second in the network to cover 3G- to 53.6 Kbps using basic GPRS services......

[Scotty]

The Merlin XU870 ExpressCard HSDPA adaptor uses the USB 2.0 port in the ExpressCard slot, so the USB to ExpressCard adaptor is a slam dunk (cheap) to make: http://www.wiredzone.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=32006463&source=froogle

Of course I don't know how much power it needs relative to the adaptor you already have. But it has to be lower since it doesn't have a battery to require fiddling voltages (and losing power in the process).

[Tax Man]

It's not THAT big! I got one after work. Since I can't tether with my iPhone and I don't have 3G I needed another solution. I'm hoping this is my answer.

[randy]

i've had the 875u since about 2 weeks after they became available from att. you 1.2M download is kind of low. i consistently get 3M down. i use it traveling and in austin. detroit, chicago have pretty good coverage. sonoma valley only had edge...

it's a little bulky, but it works with all of my computers (hp work laptop [pcmcia slot], q1b [usb only], and hp tx1000 [expresscard]).

i don't worry about the power since i have the mugen super 9-cell battery. i get close to 9 hours on the q1b...

[Kevin C. Tofel]

Stephen, I live in the suburbs north of Philadelphia and most of my travel is within the HSDPA coverage area there. Other business travel is typically in large metropolitan areas which are also covered. I will say that I got spoiled by Verizon's EV-DO coverage area: it was much larger in my local area. I did have EV-DO at my home but I don't have HSDPA here. Of course, that's where I need this service the least, so it's not a problem by any means.

[MathProfJohnson]

I frantically went to ALL Cingular stores on its launch date back in May and no one had it in stock. I then had to order it from customer service. I like having the flexibility to use it with any of my devices, but there are issues with CCM and this device. Sometimes the program will fail to recognize the device is connected. Besides that, does anyone find the "hinge" aspect strange? I keep on thinking I will somehow break it. These USB modems are bulky, but maybe as the technology improves the size will too!

[SquareBoB SaintPeTe]

With my 875U, every time i leave the computer for a while (during a download or whatever), whenever i come back i keep getting a "USB device not recognized" error, regardless of whichever notebook i use. Please tell me how to fix this, if U can .?.