Quick update on this.
I went to my phonebook and eventually found import, hit this and selected google and it has sync'd my contacts.
They now show up as soon as i begin to type in the persons name.
Downside is i now have two of everyone in my phonebook
The gains outweigh the losses
Thats the problem with not having a clue what i'm doing!
Generally speaking the hero is great and i have found hardly any problems in the couple of months i have had it.