Help Hero Users?

[Jessicalt1]

I currently have the Hero and I just ordered the Optimus. Any thoughts? From what Sprint told me, it's pretty comparable... but I wasn't able to play around with one b/c they didn't have a live model.

Thanks!

 

[jen8112]

I came from the Hero and I LOVE my Optimus S! You will be amazed with the lack of lag!

 

[Jessicalt1]

I saw you on a couple of posts and thought you "looked" familiar! I was most nervous b/c of the slower processor but I want to monkey stomp my Hero so I couldn't beat free.

 

[leglace]

This processor has incredible benchmark results. It's def an upgrade from the Hero. Just not a fancy hummingbird or snapdragon.

 

[Mountainbiker]

I had a Hero for over a year and was debating whether to go with the evo, not happy about paying 200 and 10$ a month for not having 4g. I saw the optimus S on sale, I checked this forums and took the plunge. I love this phone, what a difference with the hero, no lagging, long battery life, beautiful screen, feels solid, not cheap and of course, Android 2.2.
You can still get it for free ( no rebates ) until December 5th at Sprint website, I got another one for my son ( purple) and only cost me 18$ in taxes.

 

[Aristo]

Another former Hero owner here. Even though I've only had the Optimus for a day, it has performed well over the Hero. Like others have said, no lag, flawless operation and longer battery life.

 

[Jessicalt1]

I don't need anything fancy, working would be nice though.

 

[rodcpierce]

I also came from a HERO. I honestly loved my HERO once I rooted and flashed AOSP Froyo 2.2. BUT, with that in mind, the Optimus S blows it out of the water. Its so much smoother and more responsive! Here is a quick quadrant score from mine, once I rooted and flashed the custom recovery and rom. OC'd to 806.

 

[jen8112]

I don't need anything fancy, working would be nice though.

I know how you feel. I wanted to drop kick my Hero. I've had the Optimus S since day 1 and have not regretted it.

 

[Jessicalt1]

LOL, yes! I didn't have as many problems with it as my husband did though. He's on phone number 4 now and it's a POS too. He's jealous about my new phone and so far I LOVE it!

 

[jen8112]

My BFF just got an Epic and I'm not jealous at all! (ok her screen is pretty amazing but that's about it)

 

[Jessicalt1]

That's good news. I really liked the Epic but it was HUGE in my hands, which I knew would drive me nuts, and I don't want to pay an extra $10 a month for services I don't have. I don't care what Sprint's explanation is for the extra... I'm not buying that it's for the extra data. B/c if I'm doing the same thing on my phone that I was doing on the Hero, then I'm not seeing how I'm using extra data.

 

[ck4794]

+1 hero to optimus

had it for about two or three days now and no problems. of course i rooted my hero and in that scenario, the hero can come out ahead, but stock yes the optimus is superior. even rooted though the battery on the optimus has far outlasted the hero. reception is slighly less than that of the hero, but not to where it makes a significant differance. all said and done i'm happy with the change. physically i do like the make of the optimus better. feels a little more solid, and is more ergonomic.

 

[Aristo]

One problem - I keep on hitting search to turn off the phone

 

[rodcpierce]

One problem - I keep on hitting search to turn off the phone

same here!!! And its driving me nuts. Im waiting for a dev to figure out how to re write what the hardware keys do. I want that search key to turn into an end call/lock/unlock button!!!

 

[Jessicalt1]

One problem - I keep on hitting search to turn off the phone

Meeeee too! It's also driving me nuts. That design could have mimic'd the Hero and I'd be really happy! So far it is above and beyond the Hero. I had just a stock 2.1 and it was sooo glitchy.

 

[jen8112]

One problem - I keep on hitting search to turn off the phone

Haha...I did that for a day or so. Used to it now and actually like the button on the top better now.

 

[knightt]

Another Hero owner with an Optimus S...I have to say, you shouldn't hesitate to switch over as the Optimus is a definite upgrade. So far it has been a VERY solid phone, no lag/force closes of any sort. Very responsive and boots up so much faster.

My Hero was rooted with ZenHeroFX 2.0 ROM and I thought it was solid then. I was up for an upgrade and considered the Optimus as it had a similar form-factor as the Hero and it came with Froyo, a bit more memory and a faster processor. I was not disappointed at all and the phone is so smooth. I'm very happy with this phone.

However, I'm going to be a bit nit-picky and say that the camera lense and picture quality are not as good as the Hero. Comparing them side by side, the Hero takes better pictures and video. Also, there is no LED indicator of any sort on the Optimus...so no more knowing whether the phone was charged, received a text/email, missed a call or anything of that sort. Still trying to be creative on how to workaround this. I also do miss some of the HTC widgets from the Hero as the Optimus was lacking some of my favorites right out of the box such as the full calendar, people widget, clock w/weather, stocks, a better music player widget and etc. I did find alternatives in the market but not quite the same. But I'm willing to sacrifice a bit on the widget-end for the stability, speed and responsiveness that the Optimus brings.

Bottom-line: Despite the shortcomings (IMHO), you can't go wrong with this phone. LG did a good job and I'm impressed with the build quality. My Hero was falling apart at the keys...I still love my Hero, it's just getting old and worn out

 

[jen8112]

Another Hero owner with an Optimus S...I have to say, you shouldn't hesitate to switch over as the Optimus is a definite upgrade. So far it has been a VERY solid phone, no lag/force closes of any sort. Very responsive and boots up so much faster.

My Hero was rooted with ZenHeroFX 2.0 ROM and I thought it was solid then. I was up for an upgrade and considered the Optimus as it had a similar form-factor as the Hero and it came with Froyo, a bit more memory and a faster processor. I was not disappointed at all and the phone is so smooth. I'm very happy with this phone.

However, I'm going to be a bit nit-picky and say that the camera lense and picture quality are not as good as the Hero. Comparing them side by side, the Hero takes better pictures and video. Also, there is no LED indicator of any sort on the Optimus...so no more knowing whether the phone was charged, received a text/email, missed a call or anything of that sort. Still trying to be creative on how to workaround this. I also do miss some of the HTC widgets from the Hero as the Optimus was lacking some of my favorites right out of the box such as the full calendar, people widget, clock w/weather, stocks, a better music player widget and etc. I did find alternatives in the market but not quite the same. But I'm willing to sacrifice a bit on the widget-end for the stability, speed and responsiveness that the Optimus brings.

Bottom-line: Despite the shortcomings (IMHO), you can't go wrong with this phone. LG did a good job and I'm impressed with the build quality. My Hero was falling apart at the keys...I still love my Hero, it's just getting old and worn out

Exactly!

 

[Jessicalt1]

I don't miss the Sense widgets... b/c I overrode Sense with LauncherProPlus and it's worth every penny of the $2.99 price tag. I immediately downloaded it on my Optimus. I also use Beautiful Widgets for my clock and weather and I love it. Gives you the ability to customize it well beyond what the Hero would.

I have no experience with root b/c I was too chicken to try rooting the Hero. lol So right now, this phone is way better.

 

[fifedogg]

+1 hero to optimus

had it for about two or three days now and no problems. of course i rooted my hero and in that scenario, the hero can come out ahead, but stock yes the optimus is superior. even rooted though the battery on the optimus has far outlasted the hero. reception is slighly less than that of the hero, but not to where it makes a significant differance. all said and done i'm happy with the change. physically i do like the make of the optimus better. feels a little more solid, and is more ergonomic.

I have to disagree with you. My hero which was modded to hell (oc'd @ 768 w/ JIT etc on CM6 2.2 w/ BrainFuct Kernel) didnt do anything to the stock optimus. I had some of the highest benchmarks on my phone compared to all the other users over at XDA. While the Hero had a great CPU the I/O is too slow which makes the phone lag at certain times. The Optimus kicks its butt in every way even before I oc'd it to 806 mhz. But after that it kills the Hero badly.

Hero; Linkpack 5.2, Quadrant 509, Neocore like 15 fps or something around there.

Optimus S; Linkpack 9.5, Quadrant 1353, Neocore 54.3 fps

Also, My service quality (Signal) has gone up tramendously. I was always around 89-92 dbm with the hero droping calls. Now I hang around 84-87 dbm with the Optimus (Lower is better if you didnt know). Both of these in the same parts of my house.

Plus the battery last way longer on the Optimus S.

I noticed as well when you set the mhz to 245/480 or so the phone doesnt have a lag compared to the Hero at 652/768. Which really saves battery on the O.

Just my 2 Pennys...

 

[fifedogg]

same here!!! And its driving me nuts. Im waiting for a dev to figure out how to re write what the hardware keys do. I want that search key to turn into an end call/lock/unlock button!!!

You can do it yourself "system/usr/keylayout/thunder_keypad.kl" Notice I'm using Thunderom 1.5. It would be called Keypad something or other on the stock rom.

If you use root explorer you can use the text editing option to make the buttons do whatever you want. You can also do it on notepad on your PC. Just remember you have to reboot for the changes to take place.

A little trial and error and you will be able to make your phone do what you want. Just make sure to make a backup of the file just incase you mess something up lol.

 

[Droidone]

Switched from the hero and got the optimus and have been very happy. This phone is so much faster than the hero stock vs stock. I also love being able to run live wallpapers and some of the 3d games the hero couldn't even try to run. It's definitely been worth the swap. I got rid of my Evo because of the up charge from sprint and thought I would be doomed to with slow hero. I am glad the optimus came along and thank god for launcher pro. It made the transition that much easier. I don't miss sense at all.

Keep in mind I had my hero rooted, rom'd, and tried every kernel and even though I could get it up to speed, it still wasn't as fast as the optimus. The only rom that even came close was AOSPmods rom.

 

[Guitardoc64]

I also came from a HERO. I honestly loved my HERO once I rooted and flashed AOSP Froyo 2.2. BUT, with that in mind, the Optimus S blows it out of the water. Its so much smoother and more responsive! Here is a quick quadrant score from mine, once I rooted and flashed the custom recovery and rom. OC'd to 806.

All I can say is wow....These reviews are getting me to thinking......

 

[checkers]

its all good, much better than the Hero,also my bluetooth in my Mercedes works again thanks to 2.2.