The phone's hardware is awful

[dave675]

HTC Sprint needs to stop focusing on software sophistication and return to improving the supporting hardware. A lot of this stuff is cool, but without the hardware to enforce it, it just sucks.

At least 1 in 3 times when I intend to scroll a page, it selects an icon instead. It's very annoying. The pressing of buttons is similar, very often I'll press something and it won't do anything, I'll need to press it twice, usually with camera mode, google search, and internet buttons. The actual buttons on the bottom device are terrible too. The power button needs to be precisely hit or it will invoke the search button instead. The materials of back button and power button on mine are wearing off, and I only had this thing for a few months and don't use it much.

The recording and viewing of videos is choppy. The audio and video rarely match together. The vewing of videos on the internet is a complete joke, as most will never even load.

The trademark clock and weather widget display rarely tells me the correct city I am in despite being updated.

I could go on, but I don't want to sound overly pessimistic. This thing is good, but it has the potential to be a lot better.

 

[LBPHeretic]

If you did not like your Sprint HTC Hero you could have traded it in before the 30 days after your purchase were up. I have not really experienced any of the issues you have mentioned above.

The hardware is admittedly old, but you have to understand that this is a first generation Android smartphone. Again, I reiterate, I have had a pretty smooth experience with my Sprint HTC Hero.

 

[SamXp]

Might want to don a flame suit before the fanboiz show up. Criticism of the beloved Hero is seldom received warmly here. LOL

I agree with you, though. I bought mine last October, thought I was getting the state of the art when in actuality this is at least a generation or two old, in terms of hardware. Oh well, still a nice phone that I'll continue to enjoy until the day of my 12 month eligibility to upgrade. Hopefully have some NVidia phones by then!
Just be conservative in the number of apps you install. Consider rooting. I've enjoyed the phone a great deal more after rooting, cleaning out bloatware, and using AutoKiller.

 

[dave675]

If you did not like your Sprint HTC Hero you could have traded it in before the 30 days after your purchase were up. I have not really experienced any of the issues you have mentioned above.

The hardware is admittedly old, but you have to understand that this is a first generation Android smartphone. Again, I reiterate, I have had a pretty smooth experience with my Sprint HTC Hero.

You have to be joking. Not even with the videos? Right now the widget is telling me I'm in a city 5 miles away, it will tell me something different every hour or so without ever moving an inch. LOL

 

[dave675]

Might want to don a flame suit before the fanboiz show up. Criticism of the beloved Hero is seldom received warmly here. LOL

I agree with you, though. I bought mine last October, thought I was getting the state of the art when in actuality this is at least a generation or two old, in terms of hardware. Oh well, still a nice phone that I'll continue to enjoy until the day of my 12 month eligibility to upgrade. Hopefully have some NVidia phones by then!
Just be conservative in the number of apps you install. Consider rooting. I've enjoyed the phone a great deal more after rooting, cleaning out bloatware, and using AutoKiller.

Bought mine this January, I too thought I was getting the latest.

 

[krazeejb]

You have to be joking. Not even with the videos? Right now the widget is telling me I'm in a city 5 miles away, it will tell me something different every hour or so without ever moving an inch. LOL

Try to reboot.

 

[Kelmar]

Might want to don a flame suit before the fanboiz show up. Criticism of the beloved Hero is seldom received warmly here. LOL

Hopefully this one not be necessary as I'm sure we will all stay friendly and helpful!


OP - Is this a new phone or an phone you've had a while?

As mentioned above, you have 30 days to return it if it's a new phone. If it's an old phone, has this been the case since day one?

FWIW, I really don't have any issues with mine except some RARE lag.

 

[tazcollins]

Two in the house 6 months. No problems! TC

 

[LBPHeretic]

You have to be joking. Not even with the videos? Right now the widget is telling me I'm in a city 5 miles away, it will tell me something different every hour or so without ever moving an inch. LOL

I am sorry you are experiencing these location issues. My Sprint HTC Hero has never had an issue figuring out where it is.

As for recording and viewing video, I have not experienced any issues either prior to or after the Android 2.1 update. I will say that after I had installed the Android 2.1 update the camera app does tend to deplete my battery at an elevated rate when it is in use, but this is no where near a deal breaker for me.

 

[kassdog]

Maybe because it reads townships not cities.

 

[Squiggy]

You have to be joking. Not even with the videos? Right now the widget is telling me I'm in a city 5 miles away, it will tell me something different every hour or so without ever moving an inch. LOL

I have had no problem with videos. You sound like you have very bad luck. Before I'm accused of being a "fanboy" - and I seriously hope that term dies a quick death - I should mention that I disliked the phone soon after getting it due to lag here and there. After rooting though, I've been having a fantastic time with this phone.

 

[barnacles]

I have had no problem with videos. You sound like you have very bad luck. Before I'm accused of being a "fanboy" - and I seriously hope that term dies a quick death - I should mention that I disliked the phone soon after getting it due to lag here and there. After rooting though, I've been having a fantastic time with this phone.

Rooting seems to definitely be a must with this phone. As for the OPs issues, from the slight few you mentioned, it sounds like maybe your having issues device specific, and not in terms of the phone itself. My GPS works fine, always accurate, and videos work fine as well.

 

[The Dark Knight]

HTC Sprint needs to stop focusing on software sophistication and return to improving the supporting hardware. A lot of this stuff is cool, but without the hardware to enforce it, it just sucks.

At least 1 in 3 times when I intend to scroll a page, it selects an icon instead. It's very annoying. The pressing of buttons is similar, very often I'll press something and it won't do anything, I'll need to press it twice, usually with camera mode, google search, and internet buttons. The actual buttons on the bottom device are terrible too. The power button needs to be precisely hit or it will invoke the search button instead. The materials of back button and power button on mine are wearing off, and I only had this thing for a few months and don't use it much.

The recording and viewing of videos is choppy. The audio and video rarely match together. The vewing of videos on the internet is a complete joke, as most will never even load.

The trademark clock and weather widget display rarely tells me the correct city I am in despite being updated.

I could go on, but I don't want to sound overly pessimistic. This thing is good, but it has the potential to be a lot better.

I have no problems with video recording or playback, so I have no idea where you're coming from with that.

As for the weather widget, it used to always give the correct city until this Spring, then it started giving a city which is over an hour South of where I live. I have no idea what happened, but my guess is that it has something to do with the sprouting of the leaves on the trees around my house, and their subsequent obscuring of the location signal.

 

[The Dark Knight]

I am sorry you are experiencing these location issues. My Sprint HTC Hero has never had an issue figuring out where it is.

As for recording and viewing video, I have not experienced any issues either prior to or after the Android 2.1 update. I will say that after I had installed the Android 2.1 update the camera app does tend to deplete my battery at an elevated rate when it is in use, but this is no where near a deal breaker for me.

I've been begging to ask this question, but how has 2.1 affected your camera? Has it any improved upon anything, or added any features regarding such?

 

[LBPHeretic]

I've been begging to ask this question, but how has 2.1 affected your camera? Has it any improved upon anything, or added any features regarding such?

Android 2.1 has improved the user interface quite a bit, in my opinion. All of the camera settings are on a sliding tab in Android 2.1 instead of buried in the Menu button like Android 1.5. The one issue is that the new user interface does not change orientation with the accelerometer. For example, if you wanted to take a portrait picture versus a landscape one.

I also felt that the pictures that were produced were more crisp and the auto focus felt more responsive and tight to me. I just wish it did not eat my battery like there was no tomorrow.