Can the 8830 on Verizon work as a modem for a laptop, if so, is that the same as a air card speed wise and such? I currently have a Q and the data plan and either I'll replace the Q for a 8830 or get air card for the laptop.
Yes, you can enable the "tethering" feature of a Verizon 8830. If you have a EVDO signal, you relatively get a EVDO speed. There's also EVDO rev. A, which the BlackBerry is now.