Ready to buy a Hero, Maybe

[rivercat123]

I intended on getting the Hero when it came out on the 11th but decided to wait a week or 2 to make sure there were no major problems. I have had Sprint service for 10 years and don't really need a new phone but I qualify for the 22 mo upgrade and want a new toy. My question is with all I am reading about the battery drain issue should I wait to get the phone after the issues have been resolved? If I get it now is it possible to use as is without installing a task killer to manage the battery consumption? Thanks for the input.

 

[shadrap]

I do not use any task killer and have had zero problems with the phone or battery life. The only thing I have done was replace the messaging app with handcent.

 

[rockcrawler]

Been on mine off and on all day. Surfing the net, streaming Pandora, and playing 4everfall and I am @ 60%. Not too shabby if you ask me. Writing this post on it right now. If your sticking with sprint, wait till the moment comes out and if you don't like that better, then pull the trigger, its an awesome phone. I for one will be keeping my hero and have no plans on the moment. Not going to make a switch until HTC releases another android phone on Sprint. I really do love this phone.

 

[Turk 182]

I love this phone and will never go back to Blackberry. I've read the battery concerns but let me tell you I have worked mine over trying to learn all the ins and outs and my battery has done fine. I would say that after a Saturday of playing with it I had about 25% left at the end of the day. Of course I try not to have unnecessary widgets on my screens.

 

[blue636]

To be honest, if I had known about the battery and task handling issues before, I would not have purchased the Hero. However, I am sticking with it and not returning it even though I'm within my 30-day period.

It's a very usable phone and I've had minimal experience with the lag. Some functions and applications are a little too cluttered and it seems that you have to go through a lot just to get simple tasks done. However, you learn shortcuts here and there as you go along. HTC really did a good job on integrating Sense UI with Android.

The hardware is solid and it doesn't feel cheap at all.

I say if you have even the slightest bit of technical acumen, this phone is not a bad choice. Unfortunately, you just have to learn to manage and stay on top of its shortcomings.

 

[mustang5o]

I would say wait a week for the Moment to come out and compare the two. Typing on the Moment will be easier at first if you are not used to the soft keyboard but I have become pretty good with it myself. I'm going to look at the Moment to see how I like it but I do like the Sense UI. It's going to be a tough choice. I should have probably waited to make sure so I'd have time to see how others compared them. Don't get me wrong though, I really like the Hero. I'm just a little annoyed at some of the issues. It seems as though HTC plans on getting fixes which is good. I just hope it will also get 2.0.

 

[dcdttu]

As for the Moment, it will be a faster phone, as the processor is a new generation of processors compatible with 1.6 Android. That probably means it also runs a newer version of Android than the Hero. That said, my Hero is plenty fast.

As for me, I prefer a soft keyboard because it makes the hardware so sleek and hinge/creak/issue free.

As for the issues with the phone, I downloaded a 3rd party SMS app and have been getting great battery life. As for the other issues, they've been minimal and I am looking forward to a update to the phone, but getting by fine without it.

Hope that helps.

 

[rockcrawler]

As for the Moment, it will be a faster phone, as the processor is a new generation of processors compatible with 1.6 Android. That probably means it also runs a newer version of Android than the Hero.

What...........? Compatible with 1.6 android? Runs a newer version than the Hero? Please people, enough with the nonsense facts and speculation.

Both the Hero Processor and the Moment are perfectly compatible with 1.6....even 2.0 and the moment will be released with 1.5, just like the Hero.

 

[rivercat123]

Well I decided to stop shopping and start buying. I picked up the Hero about an hour ago and right now I'm a little overwelmed. I'm sure everything will make sense in a couple of days. Thanks for the input.

 

[doublebullout]

Well I decided to stop shopping and start buying. I picked up the Hero about an hour ago and right now I'm a little overwelmed. I'm sure everything will make sense in a couple of days. Thanks for the input.

The Hero is the first phone I've had which required some in-depth reading of the manual. Just keep the manual handy the first few days. It takes some effort to learn everything, but the rewards are worth it. It's an outstanding phone and OS.

As for task killers, I don't use one. It's really not necessary -- Android manages the phone's resources pretty well and you don't have to micromanage it yourself. The stock SMS app is the exception.