Definitely considering a HTC hero [Archive]

LeperousDust

26-07-2009, 16:37

Played with one in the orange shop the other day, and the only bad thing i've read about them is they have a "slow" calendar app because of the new HTC gloss, and a few slow transitions, becuase HTC have plopped this lovely new OS on top of old magic hardware which is a shame. But! Using it myself i never noticed any slow downs at all, so i'm definitely considering it again now.

Anyone else? I like the idea of continual development and updates (as long as my hardware can cope). The screen is totally lush and a nice little camera, it feels smaller than i imagined it would and light too.

Only thing i'm a little erked about is decent (i mean decent) GPS software, i can't really seem to find anything out there that rivals tomtom properly, which is a shame, i'd like to see tomtom porting to android, tomtom runs on linux on its standalone units doesnt it? So surely its just a matter of time before some demonstrates it can be done?

Questions questions, and also it works out fairly expensive as well like, that probably the biggest thing putting me off right now ;D :p

Mark

26-07-2009, 17:02

Are you at home (south of the border)? If so, which shop? Asking on the slight chance it might be where I'm going as I want to find one to play with myself. :)

LeperousDust

26-07-2009, 17:09

Yeah i played in Liverpool, the orange shop around Liverpool 1 didn't have any (or the battery had died i can't actually remember) but theres a second shop round the corner that had a live unit :) She let me play with it as long as i wanted, i was seriously impressed, although that shop didn't have a sim to put in it so i could really get a real feel for the web which is slightly annoying. Wanted to try some first action real flash content see how it really holds up...

Mark

26-07-2009, 17:11

That wouldn't be any bother for me. May as well abuse my existing Orange SIM for that. I'll be in Liverpool ONE Friday afternoon so hopefully I can find the store (and they've still got one).

PS - I'll be heading to the nearby Apple Store first. This was mandatory otherwise I'd have been too tempted by the all-you-can-eat Chinese, though I'm honestly not sure which is worse. :D

Daz

26-07-2009, 19:13

I'm definitely considering it. Upgrade date with T-Mobile is the 28th, just waiting for them to put it in the shops so I can have a play with it.

As for TomTom on Android, I guess we just have to see how TomTom on the iPhone sells!

LeperousDust

26-07-2009, 19:50

Thats a niggly thing holding me back though, cause i've got tomtom (or other decent) solutions that work very very well, android is just waiting around. Android has MASSIVE MASSIVE potential, i just hope it takes off seriously, if it does it will be amazing...

Daz

26-07-2009, 20:00

Fwiw, I think it will. The Android will grow beyond phones quickly, which will make the Marketplace appealing.

There are a couple of nav solutions already on the AM (Google Maps and AndNav2 (http://www.googleandblog.com/free-android-navigation-with-andnav2/3402/)(free) being two of them), and if there are genuinely no workable options I'm gonna leave my old Touch original in the glove box. That in the car and the others on foot and I'll be covered. I'd jump on TomTom if it was available though of course.

[edit]
http://www.jack-frost.co.uk/essential_android_apps.html <-- random free apps which look spiffy.

LeperousDust

26-07-2009, 21:33

Nice they look pretty good, i can't say i'm definitely not tempted, i'm just wondered whats the next hardware stetp for HTC because until the hero android has not really had its fair share. Android is all about hardware as well because the platform itself is always around and updating and refreshing which is great unless your hardware can't keep up.

I'm currently on a rolling contract with T-mobile as well, so technically i could upgrade whenever, but i love the flexibility of this contract but obviously dont want to be stung by sim free price tag!

Daz

26-07-2009, 22:43

Well, if the regular upgrades are important to you, then the Hero has a bit of a question mark over it there. It's not a 'Google Experience' phone, meaning that HTC have changed enough of the OS that Google cannot support it directly. When 2.0 ('Donut') does get released - or indeed any intermediate release before then - you wont be able to upgrade directly from Google, HTC will need to roll it up with Sense (and EAS, and whatever other customisations they have) first. Which nobody's quite sure if they're going to do, and how quickly.

The G1 and Magic were both upgradable, even over the air, straight from Google HQ - the Hero wont be. You'll always have the Marketplace though.

LeperousDust

26-07-2009, 23:30

Oh yeah i totally understand that, but i don't mind getting my hands dirty with guides and other peoples handywork which will most likely be around. I just mean the actualy OS ecosystem is fantastic, and i have no doubt HTC will keep on top of things anyway, they're a fantastic little company :). Google experience really means nothing to me, OTA firmware is nice but tbh its no biggie.

LeperousDust

27-07-2009, 10:43

Interestingly just fell across Co-Pilot for android launched within the last month or so http://www.alk.eu.com/copilot/android/ it's a traditional app in the sense you don't pay a subscription and the maps are one time downloaded and updated as and when necessary...

:D

iCraig

28-07-2009, 09:48

Reviews are out and it's "not great"

http://www.i4u.com/article26050.html
http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/htc-hero-review/

Both comment on it being laggy and sluggish.

Mark

28-07-2009, 09:56

Other reviews say the same, and then go on to say that if you don't load it down with a ton of widgets it's much better. twitter app is the worst offender apparently.

Daz

28-07-2009, 13:16

Hmm. You wonder how much of it they could fix in software, and how easy the homebrew folks can get at it to strip it down.

Arriving in T-Mobile stores any day, still going to take a look. Performance aside the reviews are largely positive, but performance could still be a deal breaker if it's unbearable.

Mark

28-07-2009, 13:26

Absolutely. It's not a matter of stripping it down though - each widget is a Linux process. Drag the widget to the 'bin' and it's gone, process and all (obviously you can add it back again later). With seven screens potentially full of widgets it's hardly surprising that resource contention happens (though a faster CPU would undoubtedly have helped).

Donut may help out if HTC port Sense to it as it seems there's been some performance tweaks going on there.

Should be in the online shop today but I checked earlier and it wasn't yet.

Daz

28-07-2009, 13:35

There may well be some hacky speed gains to be had which HTC wont do (disabling certain visual effects all together for example) - homebrew could come up with some reasonable middle ground alternatives. Suppose it depends on where the bottlenecks are under various conditions.

Anyway, I'm not put off yet. If the performance is manageable, it's still top of my list. Though admittedly the only web centric social app I use appears to be the chunkiest widget - Twitter :p

Mark

28-07-2009, 13:37

I don't use any social apps at all, though I probably should use Twitter (been following a few feeds manually and no doubt having an account would make life much easier there).

Mark

28-07-2009, 14:53

http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobile-phones/phones/pay-monthly/t-mobile/g2-touch/overview/

Enjoy. :)

iCraig

28-07-2009, 14:55

Is that hot off the press?

Edit: Black looks much better than graphite. On par with the white, so I may still go for this. Especially if I can strip away unneeded crap to maximise perfomance. Not ideal but this still seems to outrank the rivals so far.

Mark

28-07-2009, 15:05

Combi 20 works out the same price as the Orange deal I was offered. T-mobile 200min/400text/1GBdata vs Orange 400min/unltdtext/500MBdata, but I'd be inclined to play them against each other as I really wouldn't mind a change of scenery.

PS - my free (Quidco) broadband dongle turned up this morning so I'm no longer bothered about tethering. :)

LeperousDust

29-07-2009, 10:13

Reviews are out and it's "not great"

http://www.i4u.com/article26050.html
http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/23/htc-hero-review/

Both comment on it being laggy and sluggish.

I've alreayd read the reviews was put off it, took them into account when i demoed it (albeit I didn't use flash). I honestly couldn't see what the reviewer was talking about, the calender app to me seemed fine although i'm not "used" to a "normal" android calender app so i can't really compare. I'd say everything i did was responsive and quick though!

LeperousDust

29-07-2009, 10:19

Sorely tempted, but being locked at £35 a month which is essentially what i'd probably want and the phone is "free" i don't think i can afford. Now i've just gotta wait :p Booo hoo

Daz

30-07-2009, 14:16

Grr, hate it when you find deals for new customers (via a third party) that you know you'll never get as an upgrade. Can you port a T-Mobile PAYG number to a different T-Mobile Contract?

Burble

30-07-2009, 14:33

Nope, you can only port cross network. You could port to another network on PAYG then port back to T-Mobile a month later. It's a bit of a faff but it's doable.

Mark

30-07-2009, 15:00

What he said, and I'd certainly appreciate details on the third party (unless of course it's a private/restricted offer).

Daz

30-07-2009, 16:38

http://www.mobilephonesdirect.co.uk/...47/n447/p18610.aspx

Combi 30, £35 a month, 12 month contract. Not massive minutes and texts but it's with Web'N'Walk and the numbers suit me. 12 month contract being the appeal for me. £27.99 for the phone but I could stomach that.

It's not far off what I'm paying/getting now, but I'll never get the phone as an upgrade for £30.

Mark

30-07-2009, 17:19

Thanks. The Combi 20 18-month interests me. My last contract was 18 months, and I've kept the phone for 26, so I can live with that and it's £10 p/m cheaper to run.

We'll see tomorrow. I'm willing to buy either so it's all down to the accessibility now. Just hope I can find a working one.

Joe 90

30-07-2009, 18:26

if anyone gets one don't forget to bookmark the XDA Hero forum;
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=508

That place rules for HTC device development :D

Kitten

30-07-2009, 19:57

Nope, you can only port cross network. You could port to another network on PAYG then port back to T-Mobile a month later. It's a bit of a faff but it's doable.

Don't port from Orange, they tried to charge Matt £25 for the failed port!

Mark

30-07-2009, 20:38

Guess what I might be doing! Duly noted. :)

So far, I know that from home I can get 3G on Orange and HSDPA on O2, both borderline and requiring good positioning for reception (though I'm in the home office which is an RFI nightmare). Just another factor to throw into the mix for me. :)

Daz

30-07-2009, 21:36

Just rung up T-Mobile to have a chat about it - might be able to sort it out with them, had a couple of acceptable offers. Gonna nip into a shop tomorrow to have a play with it.

I have to say I do like their customer services. Had to call them a couple of times recently and they've been really helpful.

Daz

31-07-2009, 23:02

Well..... I bought one!

Quick post from it - loving it so far. Surprised to find HTC have actually bundled a tethering system. Tick a box in the settings, install software, instant rndis nic ala WindowsMobile. Drivers seem to be windows only but bonus anyway - too busy getting ready for tomorrow to have a real play. Only annoyance so far is that you can't import third party certificates, so no Exchange sync for now.

Love the browser as well.

Daz

31-07-2009, 23:02

leowyatt

31-07-2009, 23:05

You love it so much you posted twice :p ;D

Daz

31-07-2009, 23:44

It's *that* good.

Mark

31-07-2009, 23:50

Orange shop was useless when I went in. I knew more than the sales guy did - Teflon-coated screen? Er, no. Company policy also now prohibits putting customer SIM cards in the demo phones (this certainly wasn't true with one of my previous upgrades), so all I could do was flick through a few menu screens. Well that's a fat lot of use. :(

I need to try and find out if there are any accessibility functions on this phone. I'm sure they'll come, but I've not seen much evidence yet (besides a few apps that don't seem to go far beyond proof-of-concept). This is, for obvious reasons, a big deal for me. No point having a glitzy phone if I can't read it. :)

Daz

01-08-2009, 08:19

You can have a play with mine later Mark :)

Davey_Pitch

01-08-2009, 09:38

Can I do the same Daz? The iPhone is leading the way for me (partly for the free games and apps I get for it) but it would be silly not to consider the Hero as well :)

Daz

01-08-2009, 10:36

Of course :) I've not had much of a play with it myself yet, so dont expect many answers to questions ;D

*loads* of free games on the marketplace. Downloaded a free emulator and the shareware Doom ;D

Mark

01-08-2009, 10:44

Thanks Daz. I was getting a bit overwhelmed by iPhones last night. There were at least four of them out, most playing Ragdoll Blaster. ;D

LeperousDust

01-08-2009, 12:33

Arg, Daz i already have gadget envy now :( *******

;D I'm next in queue to play later, i think i'll give this wedding lark i've been invited to a miss... :p

Mark

03-08-2009, 15:33

Didn't play much. I don't like playing with people's phones in case I break something important, which is why I didn't. There is one place I do regret not looking though - the People screen. I think I have a way to cover that by another visit to an Orange store (local one should do).

Quick question for Daz - are there any options for tweaking the layout of the all programs screen? Icons there seemed a little on the small side from what I recall.

Mark

03-08-2009, 22:23

Daz, FYI, in return for help.

The reason all the apps you found in Android Marketplace are free is simple. It's a 'feature'. Most paid apps weren't/aren't listed on some HTC Hero phones...

http://androidforums.com/htc-hero/7171-htc-hero-paid-apps-problem.html

Daz

03-08-2009, 22:30

Thanks for that Mark, I'll look into it :)

Quick question for Daz - are there any options for tweaking the layout of the all programs screen? Icons there seemed a little on the small side from what I recall.
Yep, from that screen just press 'Menu' and you can toggle it to a list view, one app per line, pretty big :)

SDK remote screen capture is handeh.

Mark

03-08-2009, 22:46

Will find another in store and check out the notification list. It's the same font as most of the other lists (e.g. People), so if I can manage it there I can manage it elsewhere.

The font used for many of the widgets on the home screen is a bit small for my liking but that doesn't bother me at all because I'll lay it out the way I want and learn the layout. That's how I've always done it and would be similar to what I'd do on the 3GS, so it's no bother.

If I can get the accessibility issues sorted out, then the raison d'etre of the 3GS accessibility options goes away somewhat and with it one of the main planks of my reasoning for getting a 3GS.

Daz

14-09-2009, 11:22

Just thought I'd post a little update after having it for a little while now.

Really getting on with the phone very well, such an improvement after being on WinMo for so long. The initial niggles have all been solved now (some apps missing off market, lag issues in the ui) - after the latest firmware update it feels like a new phone performance wise. Tethering works out of the box with Karmic (and I presume Jaunty, it looks to use the same rndis driver), same as my old WinMo device. Dont need that stick after all so I'm very happy about that.

I ended up selling my soul to Google a bit - they now host my mail and calendar. I'd been considering it for a while anyway - simply because they're much more Linux friendly than Exchange/MAPI was - the main kick up the ass was that the Google Mail app is so much better than HTC's stock mail app. I got the Exchange stuff working fine in the end, I just prefer the mail experience using Googles own stuff.

The Android Market isn't as rich as Apple's App Store, but there's a wider array of apps. Apps to do things on rooted phones for instance aren't blocked at all. Flashing the firmware was an absolute doddle, can easily get a remote shell, can change anything I want to without issue or resistance... and I haven't actually rooted it. It's like a jailbroken iPhone without having to jailbreak it - which is exactly why I wanted it in the first place, I hate any sort of resistance from my kit.

It does have a couple of killer apps, my favourite being Locale (http://www.twofortyfouram.com/). You can alter various settings of the phone (ringer, wallpaper, theme, brightness etc) based on various conditions (time of day, day of week/month/year, battery capacity, calls from certain people, actual location based on asissted GPS). So things like, automatically put the phone on silent when in work, only ring overnight for your missus, that kind of thing. It has a plugin architecture though which is genius. Google wrote one for the Android Scripting Environment, meaning you can trigger your own scripts on events. There's a Wake-On-Lan plugin, which I used to turn my PC on when I get home (dont actually use that, just wanted to play :p)

It does suck as a music player though. Pretty much any media software on the laptop will detect and sync music/videos/podcasts to the phone so I dont want for anything there, but the bundled music app needs to be a lot slicker, far too basic and not very intuitive. Gap in the market for a really good player. Servicable though, and I dont use it very often as a media player. It does have an unofficial iPlayer app though which works very well - I can watch Top Gear while taking a dump :)

Oh, and the browser is fabulous. A very happy customer, would deal again, A++++

Davey_Pitch

14-09-2009, 11:40

Good review, sounds like an awesome phone. I must admit to being very very tempted to get that instead of my iPhone, but the music and video player on the iPhone won for me as that's a big part of what I use on my phone. When it comes to renew my contract I'll definitely be considering one of these, especially given how mature the platform should be by then.

Mark

14-09-2009, 11:41

Glad you're liking it. The only thing that put me off was the inability to customise it whatsoever to allow for my eyesight (beyond the browser, of course). If it wasn't for that, I undoubtedly would have got one, but it wasn't to be. I've discovered that I get on just fine without the accessibility options on the iPhone, but I think the fonts are better to start with. Android will get there, and it probably will get me as a customer - just not yet.

PS - I recently discovered my old (and unused) gmail account. Cleaned out the spam and it's good to go, so I'll be using that. Google got me too, I guess. :)

Daz

14-09-2009, 11:56

I'm a lot happier with GMail, it's handy being able to aggregate the other accounts into one interface properly. It's also very mailing list friendly, being written by a bunch of geeks and all :D

If you know anyone with a Hero do encourage them to get the new firmware, the difference in performance is enormous. Tis a top quality geek phone that can be used by normo's happily :)

Just need PopCap to bring on Peggle now :p

mejinks

14-09-2009, 12:55

The biggest problem with mine is the **** poor bluetooth implementation. It just doesn't work properly and was a half arsed attempt by the seem. I find myself using the app killer more and more and sometimes it will randomly go like treacle for 5 minutes and then "catch up" with all the key presses. Its annoying that I should have to work around these issues on a new phone when my 5 year old se950 does a much better job (other than having no wifi)

Mark

14-09-2009, 13:44

Like Daz says, updating the firmware will cure most of the treacle issues, though not so sure about the Bluetooth ones.

LeperousDust

14-09-2009, 14:09

stil wanting this phone, but also looking at the e52 which is totally different and a helluva lot cheaper! Thought behind it being how often do i really need a massive screen, basically internet and satnav. How often would i like a real keypad for speed of use which is the rest of the time i'd be using the phone, i'm not sure which fuctionality i want to sacrifice. Sensibly it would be lose out on the internet and satnav and full screen stuff since its a phone. But the geek inside me wants those even though its not practical :p That and the battery life on the e52 is probably massively better as well (a big thing).

mejinks

18-09-2009, 20:29

Like Daz says, updating the firmware will cure most of the treacle issues, though not so sure about the Bluetooth ones.

Wooohoooo!!!

Finally upgraded the phone today and its fixed all sorts of things. Apparently.

Still slow, still dials people you didn't ask it to, still randomly disconnects during bluetooth calls, but at least I can read MMS messages now instead of there being a black square.

Daz

18-09-2009, 20:37

What build you running dude?

mejinks

18-09-2009, 20:43

What build you running dude?

Well I updated it to the latest official one today ie 2.73.405.5

I have heard there are custom ones available and seeing as I have rooted my phone I could use them, but why should I have to "hack" my phone and software to make it work properly? Im slightly miffed as I was hoping this fix would address my issues. Seems not.:(

Del Lardo

18-09-2009, 23:37

Wooohoooo!!!

Finally upgraded the phone today and its fixed all sorts of things. Apparently.

Still slow, still dials people you didn't ask it to, still randomly disconnects during bluetooth calls, but at least I can read MMS messages now instead of there being a black square.

Wonder if you have a faulty unit? From my readings the new firmware turns it from a good phone into an excellent one :confused:

Looking into one at the moment, does anyone know if the Hero supports S-POP3/S-IMAP and SMTP over SSL/TLS?

mejinks

21-09-2009, 22:02

Toby

24-09-2009, 14:47

Ok thanks.

I actually prefer the design of the Magic to the Hero, not at all keep on the chin on the Hero - how do you get on with it.

Wondering whether to hang on and see what Android phones some of the other manufacturers come up with over the next few months.

Daz

24-09-2009, 15:00

Moved your post into a more relevant thread :)

The chin doesn't cause me any issue, cant feel it in my pocket or anything. It's unnecessary, but certainly not uncomfortable, for me anyway.

Des did have a good point on the apps though - the platform as a whole is nowhere near as mature as the iPhone/App Store - if you do like to shop around, you will have greater choice on the iPhone. I've always found what I wanted on Android Market, but there weren't as many options as Dee has on the App Store, and I dont really shop around anyway.

It will get there though.

Del Lardo

24-09-2009, 15:32

Well my phone is perfectly working according to HTC customer unsupport.

On the plus side, the bluetooth appears to work perfectly in the car now and connects and stays connected which is a plus. Unfortunately, it still doesn't support reading contacts from the sim card (usim?) and has now taken to crashing the messaging app when writing sms.

Im learning to live with all its faults now and have resigned myself that I have to live with it for the next two years. Lets hope nothing else happens with it eh.

From what I have read HTC have had a few hardware issues so it may be worth trying again.

That said I'm planning on ordering one on Monday from mobiles.co.uk unless anyone knows of any better deals.

HTC Hero - Free
600 minutes
Unlimited Texts
Mobile Internet
Vodafone Passport
£40/month with 9 months half price line rental
18 month contract.

Vodafone is a must as I will be doing a lot of international travel (for work so expensing my bill) and with Passport O2 & Orange are far more expensive. Would prefer a 12 month contract but given my bills will be ~£400/month I am pretty confident that if I phone them after 12 months they will do what I say :D

Toby

24-09-2009, 20:08

The bluetooth issues do worry me tbh. Whatever phone I get simply has to work in the car, end of, as I do a lot of phoning from there. Call dropping just isn't acceptable.

Would the Hero and Magic's BT implementations be the same (as I can test with a colleauge's Magic) or will the HTC stuff have changed/affected it so the comparison wouldn't be valid?

Daz

24-09-2009, 20:34

They will be the same I should imagine - HTC have made tweaks to the kernel to support some of the UI stuff and tethering (which you wouldn't get on the Magic) but they've not touched the BT afaik.

mejinks

30-09-2009, 03:28

Righteo. From Zero to Hero :D

My old phone decided to stop working completely, so CPW have replaced it for me. The thing is that the phone I have now works brilliantly. It doesn't disconnect from my car bluetooth and you can dial from the sim card (rSim I believe its called), if someone sends you a number in a sms, you can click on it and save it as well as just dial it and best of all, it just works bar a few hiccups every now and then complaining about acore closing, although clickong on ok does nothing and it doesn't seem to affect the phone at all :dunno:

There are tons of apps in the market place and generally, the only game that slows it down sometimes is Midnight pool 2. Other than that, its a complete joy to use.:D One brilliant app I use at the moment is called shop savvy, which lets you scan a barcode of a product and compare it online. I tested this the other day on some braun cleaning fluid for my razor and found it 4 quid cheaper online. There are other apps that do this too, which have more UK brands and I found myself scanning everything in the kitchen :D

A handy trick I learned the other day is that if you hold down the call drop button, the bottom option turns off data useage via 2g/3g I nearly went over my usage by leaving this on (it was checking e-mails every 5 minutes as well as facebook/twitter etc)

There are so many features of the phone that I haven't learned yet, but I have a phone I like now:)

Daz

30-09-2009, 09:47

One brilliant app I use at the moment is called shop savvy, which lets you scan a barcode of a product and compare it online.
I use that too :D The barcode scanning API is great, someone wrote a script to scan an ISBN barcode and take you to the book on Amazon :)

A handy trick I learned the other day is that if you hold down the call drop button, the bottom option turns off data useage via 2g/3g
I have 'unlimited' data so dont worry about that, however when we go abroad it will be great to avoid roaming data - as you say, it's a noisy phone data wise (which is fine, but not when it's a million quid per meg :D)

mejinks

30-09-2009, 13:48

I use that too :D The barcode scanning API is great, someone wrote a script to scan an ISBN barcode and take you to the book on Amazon :)

That sounds interesting, I shall look for that now.

I have 'unlimited' data so dont worry about that, however when we go abroad it will be great to avoid roaming data - as you say, it's a noisy phone data wise (which is fine, but not when it's a million quid per meg :D)

Be careful about that because Orange told me I had unlimited data too. Theeir definition of unlimited is 500mb per month though.:angry: