I am trying to figure out how I managed to survive without EVDO before! I've now had it about three weeks and it is so much an essential part of my life that there is just no way I'm giving it up!
It first came in useful when I was at TechEd 2005 in Orlando. With the hotel's meager DSL connection maxed out and WiFi collisions going crazy at the convention center I was running along at 700k-1mb download speeds!
Next I hit Chicago and was managing 1400k/sec (140K/sec) downloads in O'Hare airport and pretty close to that up in Northfield and Glenview, IL at the hotel. Unfortunately I barely managed a signal even with an external antenna when I was in the office but I did manage to get up to 300k/sec rates much of the time. Outlook was happy to use the connection when it was up and browsing worked great too.
I thought when I returned to my apartment in Jersey City which is on the end of a pier that I would need to get an external antenna but it turns out there must be a Verizon EVDO capable tower close by because I'm inside surrounded by water and still hitting top speeds of 1400k/sec although averaging more around 1mb with the built in antenna.
So I've cancelled my cable modem and this is now my primary Internet connection. It is fast, so far very reliable and I no longer have to think about finding a WiFi hotspot. In fact, I've left my WiFi card disabled.
Some things I have learned with my experience so far. First, disable the Venturi client unless you are on the old 1xRTT network. When you have 1mb of speed the proxy actually slows things down unless you are on a seriously graphically intense web site. Second, don't forget to disconnect BEFORE you go into standby or things won't work when you resume (I classify this as a driver issue) and third, an external antenna may actually not make much of a difference if you have a decent signal anyway.
So who needs WiMax? As Verizon continues to roll this out nationwide and people realize how awesome it is it will become essential. $79.99 is pretty expensive but when you add up a home connection ($30 - $40) plus a subscription to T-Mobile WiFi ($30) a month it is pretty close.
Now, the next thing I'm looking at is the new Samsung i730 Pocket PC phone with EVDO!