Is anyone else considering a switch?

[bkfist]

I am thinking about a switch as well. Here are my reasons in no particular order:

• I am a nerd and want to play with another device
• The Momet has a much better processor
• The HTC specific issues like the messaging app will go away
• Stock Android is must customizable than the Hero
• The Moment will probably be easier to root since it's closer to stock Android
• It's shiny and did I mention I am a nerd who like to play with new toys?

I agree with you on all points, however as to needing to play with new things, other than playing with a stock android, which I could do with a simulator, I don't really see that as a reason for my considering switching. The processor itself isn't that much of a reason for me, as when all the HTC craplets are not running, the phone works quite well.
For me the number one reason would be the stock Android, and the probability of gaining root access more easily.

The down side is I happen to like the look and feel of the Hero, and I'm getting quite used to the keyboard and am almost as fast on it as I was on my Blackberry.

My real gripe is the WiFi flakiness on my phone, and the HTC craplets. My phone is constantly showing a WiFi connection, but unable to get to the internet unless I disable and re-enable the WiFi. It refuses to see networks on Chanel 2 if they are encrypted with WPA2/AES... Add to that the Audio bug, and the messenger/sleep bug, and the fact that HTC decided they needed to make the phone hard to gain root access, and I'm seriously considering returning it for the Moment.

I am not even considering switching to a different OS... If for some reason Sprint hears enough gripes and decides to do something stupid like delay the release of the Moment to prevent a rash of people returning their phones within their 30 day time-frame for the Moment, I'll hop over to Verizon, who conveniently have set their launch data for their first Android phone to give users who went to Sprint on the 11th exactly 1 day to spare.

If someone has root on the Hero by the 1st, I don't think I'll even go look at the Moment. (Once rooted, I am certain that the majority of problems will be fixed by the community in short order.)

If there is no root on the Hero by the 1st I'll go look at the Moment, maybe swich..
If there is no root by the 7th of November, I'll definitely get the Moment, unless I hear a lot of bad stuff during the first 5 days of release.
If for some reason there is a shortage of Moment's and/or Sprint delays the release, I'll switch to Verizon for the Moto Droid on the 9th.

Sprint/HTC, are you listening? Pushing out a 1.6 release MONTHS after 1.6 is officially released by the development team is NOT acceptable in any way, shape, or form, not even if everything on the phone worked perfectly, let alone a lot of annoying, although not necessarily "killer" bugs.

 

[ChrisPlague]

as much as i have said no in the past i am slightly considering it...

 

[AndroidFTW]

Wait a second! Weren't you the one extolling HTC's virtues?
lol

 

[ChrisPlague]

Wait a second! Weren't you the one extolling HTC's virtues?
lol

::waits a second::

yes i was truth be told i dont use 7 home screens and a physical keyboard would be nice and the amoled screen and the better processor would come in handy but in the end its still a samsung and i personally dont like samsungs phones that is just my personal opinion though

 

[blue636]

It seems a lot of people here have at least considered leaving the Hero even if they actually won't (for Sprint, it's the best phone other than the Tour in my opinion). The Moment looks like it could be hit or miss, and the Palm Pre's keyboard totally kills it for me. No way I would go to the Instinct or any other resistive screen device. Capacitive is where it's at.

 

[bray424]

My brother is supposed to be getting the Moment on the first and I'm planning on playing with it when he gets it, but I'm going to have to be blown away to switch. So far I love my Hero, and call me an optimist, but I believe that Sprint/HTC will issue some sort of official bug fix soon for most of the bugs (particularly battery life), even if it isn't an updated Android OS.

The only thing that would get me to switch to the Moment without hesitation would be significantly larger internal storage, and that isn't there. The faster processor sounds nice, but not necessary, because the way I figure it by the time there are Android apps that refuse to run on my Hero, my two years will be up and I'll be looking to get something that completely blows away every phone currently on the market.

 

[Edaze55]

There are two things that would stop me from getting the Moment, it was in one of the videos that I recently saw. Part 2 of the one already in this thread I believe. One of those is the zoom function of the Moment. Its all just like Google maps. No pinch zooming (which I knew since 1.6 doesnt support multi-touch) or double tap to zoom.

That last one is really going to take some getting used to. I find the zoom in/out bar to be, well frankly, clunky.

The other, and this might even be a bigger deal. Flash. I had all but forgotten that there isnt flash support for Android yet. The only reason I say this is a bigger deal is because Adobe wont be dropping Flash 10.1 for Android until 2010 sometime.

That aside, I love how the quick the Moment is to get into landscape, and that it can be done from the home screen. I can live with the 3 screens over the 7, but should I need more I could always just throw openHome on it. Theres also a Heroesque like skin that gives you a similar bottom bar (minus the buttons) and the Date/Weather widget.

 

[Michaeljc70]

I have had a Palm Treo, HTC Dash (WM6), iPhone and now a HTC Hero.

I like Android and the Hero. I like the customization. I am thinking of dumping it though for these reasons:


-The lag is bad. Sometimes it is like 3-5 seconds for the keyboard to come up, the screen to rotate, or whatever. This is inexcusable and obnoxious.
-Battery life is poor. It seems all this stuff is running willy nilly in task manager. I kill it, and it is back. Not sure what starts automatically vs. what I installed, etc. I shut the phone down and restart, lag is still there.

-I don't like how you switch apps. Basically, you don't. You click it's icon again like you are starting it for the first time. It should be easier. I think a (collapsible) section on the notifications screen that lets you pick running apps would be nice. Having to go all the way back to where you started the app from is bad.

-The email app(s) are all lacking. The built in one is the only one that supports push. It doesn't even have up/down arrows to move to the next/prev message. Inexcusable. Every other app doesn't have push (for gmail) and has significant other issues.

-Some things just don't work all the time. For example, in the phone keypad you can type a name and it filters contacts. Love that. sometimes it just refuses to work.

- I have had a few VM come in days after they were left. This is very bad.

 

[LTZguy]

I have had a Palm Treo, HTC Dash (WM6), iPhone and now a HTC Hero.

I like Android and the Hero. I like the customization. I am thinking of dumping it though for these reasons:


-The lag is bad. Sometimes it is like 3-5 seconds for the keyboard to come up, the screen to rotate, or whatever. This is inexcusable and obnoxious.
-Battery life is poor. It seems all this stuff is running willy nilly in task manager. I kill it, and it is back. Not sure what starts automatically vs. what I installed, etc. I shut the phone down and restart, lag is still there.

-I don't like how you switch apps. Basically, you don't. You click it's icon again like you are starting it for the first time. It should be easier. I think a (collapsible) section on the notifications screen that lets you pick running apps would be nice. Having to go all the way back to where you started the app from is bad.

-The email app(s) are all lacking. The built in one is the only one that supports push. It doesn't even have up/down arrows to move to the next/prev message. Inexcusable. Every other app doesn't have push (for gmail) and has significant other issues.

-Some things just don't work all the time. For example, in the phone keypad you can type a name and it filters contacts. Love that. sometimes it just refuses to work.

- I have had a few VM come in days after they were left. This is very bad.

my battery life seems respectable. its 5:15 and i took my off charge this morning about 6:30 and i'm at 60%....i talked on it quite a bit...web browed a while...bunch of texts, downloaded a couple aps...set up the setiings in those apps...not bad...it seems like it will last me all day...now if i get an extended batt...it will really be nice!

 

[Grinder16]

Just something to consider - I have been in this business a long time and I can not remember one device - in the PDA/Smartphone/BB category that came out and was perfect immediately. All of them take time, revisions and updates before everyone is happy. Give it some time, unless it is a hardware problem such as physical keyboard. the software will get fixed

 

[Barfighter]

For what its worth my opinion:

I have had a Palm Treo, HTC Dash (WM6), iPhone and now a HTC Hero.

I like Android and the Hero. I like the customization. I am thinking of dumping it though for these reasons:


-The lag is bad. Sometimes it is like 3-5 seconds for the keyboard to come up, the screen to rotate, or whatever. This is inexcusable and obnoxious.
-Battery life is poor. It seems all this stuff is running willy nilly in task manager. I kill it, and it is back. Not sure what starts automatically vs. what I installed, etc. I shut the phone down and restart, lag is still there.

No problems with lag on mine I timed it and keyboard comes up in one second and switching to landscape took a whooping 1.5 secs.

-I don't like how you switch apps. Basically, you don't. You click it's icon again like you are starting it for the first time. It should be easier. I think a (collapsible) section on the notifications screen that lets you pick running apps would be nice. Having to go all the way back to where you started the app from is bad.
Press and hol the home button this brings up a screens of apps that are currently running tap the one you want and bingo, you are at another app.

-The email app(s) are all lacking. The built in one is the only one that supports push. It doesn't even have up/down arrows to move to the next/prev message. Inexcusable. Every other app doesn't have push (for gmail) and has significant other issues.
Not a big dal to me.

-Some things just don't work all the time. For example, in the phone keypad you can type a name and it filters contacts. Love that. sometimes it just refuses to work.
Never had a problem with mine it works like a charm.

There is no perfect phone and the grass isn't always greener

- I have had a few VM come in days after they were left. This is very bad.

 

[twospirits]

Samsung Moment (Sprint) Smartphone reviews - CNET Reviews - Not panned - Mentions MUCH better screen than Hero


YouTube - Samsung Moment for Sprint - part 1 of 2 - Nice unbxoing and the UI, while vanilla, looks snappier than the Sense UI on the Hero.

And yet, PC World just did their review and it doesn't look all that its cracked to be. 1.5

Oh well, so much for that. I think I will stay with my Hero. Now to wait to see what the Droid reviews come up with.

TS

 

[Michaeljc70]

For what its worth my opinion:

I guess we all have different uses/expectations.

One thing you said is inaccurate. When you press and hold the home button, it does not display running apps. It displays apps you started recently. You can confirm this by starting an app, using a task manager to kill it and holding the home screen. It will still be there.

I guess overall, I would have expected a bigger more knowledgable community at this point. The thing above is something a lot of people have said on various boards (hold home button is running apps) and it is just plain wrong.

If I had more resources to figure out what is causing the lag and battery drain, that would be nice. For example, what are the essential (built in Android) programs that MUST be running for the phone to function? I could kill the others and see if the lag/battery issues go away.

I am a software engineer and very tech savvy, but I am not easily finding a lot of good info.

 

[Tikerz]

The email app(s) are all lacking. The built in one is the only one that supports push. It doesn't even have up/down arrows to move to the next/prev message. Inexcusable.

Yes, it does. When you're reading an email there are two big buttons to navigate to the next/previous message.

 

[deadsoccer]

I am considering a switch for two main reasons:
1) Dust in the glass. I keep phones for two years and am concerned that I have some, albeit minor, dust present after two weeks.

2) Battery Drain. I've got the SMS work around. Sometimes the phone sleeps fine and battery is great. Other times it doesn't sleep and it drains super fast. I have experimented to see what is causing the issue and there is no pattern..it really seems to refuse to sleep randomly. Basically, after doing something on my phone I have to check it to see if it has entered the no sleep cycle. If it has entered the cycle i shut it down and restart it. I'm tired of doing this.


I do have some concerns about the Moment. Those issues are
1) Size. Seems too big and too heavy.
2) Lack of pinch to zoom. I'm not a big app user, mostly internet and this by far makes web browsing much better.
3) Visual Voicemail--does it have it? I've seen nothing in the reviews. Big feature for me.

 

[Michaeljc70]

Yes, it does. When you're reading an email there are two big buttons to navigate to the next/previous message.

The app with the buttons is HTC's mail app, not Androids (gmail). If you are using HTC's mail app, you don't have push gmail. Try it out. Set the send/receive to be 15 minutes and send yourself an email. See which email program gets it first.

 

[romeosidvicious]

Apparently the Moment is 1.5 as well which pretty much means it's off my list. I am used to the k/b on the Hero already and it might still suck a little bit but I also was wrong about the proc. I had originally thought it was a 1ghz proc wunning 1.6 and that was well enough reason to switch. However it's an 800mhz proc running 1.5. I may swap to the Pre just because it's more open and easy to root but will probably stay with the Hero for now and see what updates drop for it. I have a couple weeks left to decide.

 

[rcyphermd]

The app with the buttons is HTC's mail app, not Androids (gmail). If you are using HTC's mail app, you don't have push gmail. Try it out. Set the send/receive to be 15 minutes and send yourself an email. See which email program gets it first.

I actually prefer setting my email for once an hour. Can I eliminate the stock gmail program and just use HTC for my gmail? Will that mess up my syncing with gmail on my laptop? Thanks in advance for helping!

 

[Shouse]

I will never buy anything Samsung. It's one of the few companies I have a total ban on Anything I've ever bought from them has died prematurely. POS company if you ask me.

 

[mustang5o]

HTC Tweet "htc
The rumors are true! Hero will be getting an Eclair update. We ask for your patience as we update Sense for the fancy new Android OS."

Now that I have my WiFi issue fixed it seems I think I'll be sticking with Hero. Hopefully we get Eclair with many bug fixes in Sense.

 

[deadsoccer]

Samsung Moment review

this is the most helpful review of the moment I've read so far. I was pretty surprised and disappointed that you have to use a card reader to get music files onto the moment. Really?

 

[twospirits]

I will never buy anything Samsung. It's one of the few companies I have a total ban on Anything I've ever bought from them has died prematurely. POS company if you ask me.

I've had the HTC Diamond and before that the HTC Touch. been with HTC ever since. But before them I always has a Samsung phone. never had a problem with their phones that I can recall. They are one of the biggest consumer electronic makers and do make great products. Just that their phones of late aren't as great (in my opinion) as the HTC ones.

TS out

 

[t1jordan]

First off, this isnt a rant about things wrong with the Hero.

I've mentioned the possibility of switching from the Hero to the then named Samsung Instinct Q even before the Hero launched.

As I've posted in another thread, Im still considering this possibility. Only now we know it as the Samsung Moment.

Let me first say that I really dont have any problems with my phone. It sleeps, I dont use any of the "battery fixes". Lag isnt a real issue as I dont leave multiple apps running. Battery life isnt a true issue as Im always close to a charger should I need one. The only real issue I have is dust under the glass. That said, its only been two weeks. Im sure its going to get worse.

I can get by with the Heros keyboard, but I really dont like it. Which is, and always has been my main reason for prefering the Moment over the Hero. I know some of you think this is a step backwards, but I dont. What its going to come down to is how good the Moment feels in my hands.

I have heard at least one other person talk about a possible switch as well, so Im wondering if anyone else has considered doing this, and if so why. Just to make things more interesting, even if you arent thinking about switching, I'd like to hear why.

to be honest I just like HTC products. Im not leaving. I done with bulky phones and there keyboards. Im all touch now. And my phone is pretty smooth. The keyboard lags up on web browser sometimes. I will check out the review for the Samsung Moment.

 

[t1jordan]

I'm considering it, but only because of the issues I'm experiencing. My biggest issues are the sleep issue and a little lag (usually with the keyboard or switching from portrait to landscape mode).

I should add that although I'm new to this forum and this is my first Android device, I have played with Android before and I'm an IT geek by profession, so I'm not a complete newb...plus I'm a little more tolerant of issues....(although the fact I can't resolve these issues is very frustrating)

Having said that, these issues with hero are nagging enough for me to consider switching. The downside is the Moment doesn't support multi-touch or have the sense ui, so I don't get integrated messaging. These are hard pills for me to swallow.

I think it'll all boil down to what fixes I get in the next week.

The Hero is the Flagship phone for Sprint. Don'f forget that.

 

[andy22]

For a flagship phone where are all the commercials and why does not one sprint customer service rep know a damn thing about the phone? Perhaps I missed sarcasm as I did not read what you replied to I just jumped right in.