Laptop users with ExpressCard slots may soon be able to enjoy the benefits of EV-DO and HSDPA 3G access thanks to Novatel Wireless. The company has announced that it is now shipping samples of ExpressCards supporting both standards.

The EV-DO and HSDPA ExpressCards will support both USB 2.0 and PCI Express applications and will operate at speeds of 2.4 Mbps for EV-DO and 3.6 Mbps for HSPDA. The EV-DO ExpressCards will be backward compatible with CDMA 1X networks while the HSDPA ExpressCards are backward compatible with WCDMA networks.

"Our customer base includes the leading European and North American wireless operators, and we now believe that Novatel Wireless has the largest number of design wins with key laptop manufacturers for our embedded solutions...No competitor can offer these benefits to carrier and OEM customer channels, giving us a distinct competitive advantage," said Novatel Wireless CEO Peter Leparulo.

Of course, you could just spring for one of those Dell laptops with 3G built in.