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Novatel Wireless, Inc. has begun initial pre-commercial shipments of its Merlin XU870 ExpressCard that is designed for both North American and European HSDPA networks.
The Merlin XU870 ExpressCard is a tri-band HSDPA/UMTS and quad-band EDGE/GPRS product that allows for worldwide roaming between HSDPA networks in North America and Europe. The Merlin XU870 ExpressCard will initially be configured for 3.6 Mbps data speeds and when mobile operators start providing 7.2 Mbps service, a software utility will be used to upgrade the card and boost its speed to 7.2 Mbps.
The Merlin XU870 ExpressCard fits both 34 and 54 size slots and is a tri-band HSDPA/UMTS and quad-band EDGE/GPRS product that allows for worldwide roaming between HSDPA networks in North America and Europe. The Merlin XU870 ExpressCard has been initially configured for 3.6 Mbps data speeds and when mobile operators start providing 7.2 Mbps service, a software utility will be used to upgrade the card and boost its speed to 7.2 Mbps. The Merlin XU870 ExpressCard will allow new notebook platforms, with the ExpressCard slot, to take advantage of its performance and scalability for wireless broadband connectivity.
Review By Novatelwireless
The Merlin XU870 HSDPA ExpressCard is one of the latest additions to the Merlin product line. Continuing its innovation and leadership position, Novatel Wireless has incorporated its wireless technology into a much anticipated new form factor – the ExpressCard/34. And as added value, the product offers form factor flexibility by fitting both ExpressCard/34 and ExpressCard/54 slots.
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Review By Eweek
The XU870 positively blazes. In tests in four different locations using an HP Pavilion dv5000t laptop with both ExpressCard and PC Card slots, the XU870 beat Novatel’s own U730 PC Card on 15 out of 16 downloads. It averaged 736 Kbps and peaked at 1.06 Mbps. Three different transfers all came in over 1 Mbps, showing that the high speed wasn’t a fluke.
The XU870 also got better reception than the U730, holding on to HSDPA signals in two tests when the U730 and an LG CU500 phone both dropped to the slower EDGE network. The XU870 and U730 didn’t vary much on upload speeds, as Cingular caps its uplink at 128 Kbps, something both cards can easily handle.
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Review By Pcmag
The card is a beguiling little thing, too. It’s long and thin, with a simple fold-up antenna and an LED light that turns different colors depending on whether you have a UMTS/HSDPA signal, an EDGE signal, or no signal. A tiny port on the side lets you add an external antenna for even better reception. The SIM card is easy to remove, so you can swap it between the XU870 and a phone. Novatel provided me with their own connection manager software, but that’s not even worth talking about—when you buy the card (if you ever can), it will work with Cingular’s or T-Mobile’s software.
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Review By Expansys
The Merlin XU870 HSDPA 7.2 ExpressCard offers the flexibility of both HSDPA and UMTS in tri-band 2100/1900/850 MHz and in quad-band EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900 MHz capability. The XU870 ExpressCard provides high-speed connectivity to HSDPA networks with data speeds up to 3.6 Mbps and ultimately 7.2 Mbps, with a software upgrade. It has an integrated antenna system design that incorporates an external flip antenna, maximizing data speed performance and allows for stronger network signal reception.
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Posted on October 31st, 2006 Written by: PCMAN
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