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.
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.