quicksite

In the good news/ bad news department, I've only had my HTC Hero for 4 weeks now (European GSM version, yes, with chin, which i think is elegant.. but... ), and learning Android and HTC Sense has been a real pleasure, especially after my previous 5 years with WindowsMobile phones from T-Mo. Gotta say I love the 7 home screens the Hero has... when you have these half-page widgets, or even full-page widgets like Bookmarks, it is WAY easy to fill up those pages, trust me. ANd the user experience of using the center one as Home, and swiping left or right several screens makes everything pretty instantly accessable: Clock/weather widget, calendar "next event" widget, twitter widget, Music player widget, Pandora widget, Phone Dialer/contact pictures widget, visual voicemail widget, photo gallery, etc... in addition to a wide array of apps via icons.

Add Android Marketplace apps such as Handcent SMS, Dolphin Browser, Shop Savvy, Task Switcher, and the amazing little "Bar Control" that gives a whole other level of quick access, and I have been really happy with my HTC Hero.

But damn if it isn't tempting to sell it and get the Nexus One tomorrow. Things that look better of Nexus One: SOFT TOUCH android standard buttons (Back, Menu/Options, Home, Search)... These are really HARD buttons on the Hero, and require a lot of pressure to activate... way more than most phones... which over time really does create its own form of repetitive stress on tiny muscles within fingers and hand... In addition, the trackball on the Hero has no sensitivity settings and is totally unwieldy -- just as you think you've landed on your selection, just try to press-select or long-press to get Options, and 9 times out of 10 the selection slips to the adjacent or next menu item. (** Is it any better on the Nexus One, or more or less same?) Really a major time suck, and I have seen zero advantages to it.

So -- verdict is I love the Hero's 7 screens, SenseUI.. I realize from reading that Android 2.1 makes SenseUI not so necessary for the polished UI... Add to that the problem with hard keys, and odd placement of back key, and I am pretty much ready to go for the Nexus One -- and finally be able to use my T-Mobile 3G (the GSM Hero as most of you know will not work on T-Mo's USA 3G network.

But as my SUBJECT LINE asks: Am I really going to have to give up 2 additional home screens -- ones I absolutely use to great advantage right now -- to make the switch? Or based on what XDA-developers have done with custom ROMS, will they be able to add additional Home Pages? Does anyone know this, based on what XDA-devs has been able to do for all other HTC Android phones other than the Hero?

Thank you.

FLT

Ofc they can and probably someone will

quicksite

Thanks. Meanwhile, it was 3 hours ago i posted that and was high on the Nexus One fumes... and for past 3 hours on this website alone i have read thread after thread of major dissatisfaction and growing ranks of complaints re lack of Google even providing phone customer service...

I'm beginning to think: wait 3 months. I really don't need to have the "I have the best!" factor in my head for the next while. Now, in context, I am relatively quite happy with my HTC hero... but maybe in 3 months things will have been sorted out. and bunch of custom ROMs by then too.

rubi76

If you like so much your 7 home screens why don't you use a home replacement?

sooper_droid12

Yeah, tons of Home replacements that blow away ANY native Home out there. Let me recommend a few:

1) I'm using Home++ Beta which is available on the Market. There's a lot of great stuff on their, but it's built on 2.0 (which will work on 2.1). Up to 7 screens, with a screen switcher.
2) The NEWEST home replacement is a geek's wet dream: SWEETER HOME Beta 2, which isn't available on the Market, but from their website. Full customizable in every way shape and form, including layerable widgets, wallpaper per screen customization, etc. It only includes 5 screens at the moment (center, left, right, up and down).
3) Then there are the others: aHome, GDE (up to 11 screens), etc.

Last edited by sooper_droid12; January 12th, 2010 at 07:32 AM.

quicksite

wow, i didn't know. I'm too new to android, and had been just learning to use it as shipped, before going and rooting it to modify and enhance. thanks for letting me know. I should have figured the hackers are way out in front of the curve. thank you