gestalt's post helped in addition to the repost by quantum, thanks both of you.
so far the htc hero is the best phone ive ever had it does everything i need and more. the interface lag everyone mentions is there but its really nowhere near as bad as my iphone was. the mms is working flawlessly as well as all other connectivity. the battery life kicks ass, its probably double what my iphone had. had a few issues with connecting to my home wireless network but nothing serious. so far this is a very smooth experience no problems yet all i did was enter my sd card and sim card, power on, set up the mms and go. i would recommend this phone to anyone.
im not going to be updating the firmware until i know it doesnt brick unlocked heros, if and when the updated firmware comes out. i hear the rom of it thats out DOES fix the minute interface lag and other tiny little issues which basically makes the hero the perfect phone, but im not going to mess with any of that until an official firmware update exists that doesnt brick it.