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HTC Hero ROM update: Your Opinions

dr2012

Newbie
Sep 8, 2009
21
0
So, the updates been available for a few weeks nowfor most users. I'm very interested in getting a hero so would be interested to hear some reviews now the update has been released...

In paricular im intested in...
- Any lag
- The text messaging problem
- ANY problems with the phone now its updates
- Signal quality

I'd be very grateful if someone could give me a mini review of the phone now as most reviews that are online are ones BEFORE the ROM.

Many Thanks ;)
 
Don't know about problems before the ROM update. However the phone was a bit laggy. After the update it is as smooth as silk and beats the iPhone into a cocked hat. I have not seen any software problems since, and I have good signal strength (orange UK) Messages are coming through as they should, as are my pop3 e-mails.

Good luck if you decide to upgrade.
 
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Don't know about problems before the ROM update. However the phone was a bit laggy. After the update it is as smooth as silk and beats the iPhone into a cocked hat. I have not seen any software problems since, and I have good signal strength (orange UK) Messages are coming through as they should, as are my pop3 e-mails.

Good luck if you decide to upgrade.

Thanks mate.
Whats the deal with internet with the hero from Orange - is it unlimted? and how much do you tend to use a month? Thanks :)
 
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Only had it less than a week so I don't know about data usage yet. I get the 500mb limit orange imposed on me and I am assured this will be enough...we will see. I do use wifi when at home which should help. I must say I have never 'fallen in love' with a phone as much as I have with this one. I upgraded from a Blackberry Bold (which is superb) and I was worried I was doing the right thing. The Hero does everything that did and with so much more finesse. I don't mind having to wait 15 minute intervals to get my mails.

No doubt this is a great gadget, and with the ROM upgrade it is superbly smooth.
 
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Only had it less than a week so I don't know about data usage yet. I get the 500mb limit orange imposed on me and I am assured this will be enough...we will see. I do use wifi when at home which should help. I must say I have never 'fallen in love' with a phone as much as I have with this one. I upgraded from a Blackberry Bold (which is superb) and I was worried I was doing the right thing. The Hero does everything that did and with so much more finesse. I don't mind having to wait 15 minute intervals to get my mails.

No doubt this is a great gadget, and with the ROM upgrade it is superbly smooth.

Cheers mate :) One final question, what do you mean by 'having to wait 15 minute intervals to get my mails.'??
 
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I use POP3 for my main e-mails (work) which means unlike the Blackberry where I had mails pushed to the phone, I have set the Hero to pull messages off the server, and I have set this to every 15 minutes. You can change the interval to anything you like.
However if you use Gmail, all your messages will be pushed to your phone immediately like the Blackberry. I don't tend to use gmail much as I work for myself and already have a company e-mail address.

Having said that...One reason I got the Hero was for Google calendar integration. (I could never get this working right on the Blackberry without crossing my fingers and in some cases losing appointments)
I am a consultant and share my Google calendar with a number of clients who need to look when I am free. The Hero just does this instantly. I put an appointment on the phone and within a minute it is on my Google calendar. If I do the same on the PC, within a minute the appointment is on the phone. Just what I need.
 
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I use POP3 for my main e-mails (work) which means unlike the Blackberry where I had mails pushed to the phone, I have set the Hero to pull messages off the server, and I have set this to every 15 minutes. You can change the interval to anything you like.
However if you use Gmail, all your messages will be pushed to your phone immediately like the Blackberry. I don't tend to use gmail much as I work for myself and already have a company e-mail address.

Having said that...One reason I got the Hero was for Google calendar integration. (I could never get this working right on the Blackberry without crossing my fingers and in some cases losing appointments)
I am a consultant and share my Google calendar with a number of clients who need to look when I am free. The Hero just does this instantly. I put an appointment on the phone and within a minute it is on my Google calendar. If I do the same on the PC, within a minute the appointment is on the phone. Just what I need.

Ah, right, i see, thanks for the clarification ;)
 
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One thing worth mentionning ref the 500mb limit...

If you're up for renewal soon, really battle with disconnections for the best deal. After about 15 mins on the phone with a "retentions operator" i got a deal even i couldn't believe. I mentioned i wanted more than 500Mb, and asked what could they do - Orange do a
 
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One thing worth mentionning ref the 500mb limit...

If you're up for renewal soon, really battle with disconnections for the best deal. After about 15 mins on the phone with a "retentions operator" i got a deal even i couldn't believe. I mentioned i wanted more than 500Mb, and asked what could they do - Orange do a
 
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I agree with everything that has been said except for only having 10 apps. There are 10,000 apps in the store and to only have 10 installed is a crime. The phone comes with many more than 10.
I have found that this is one of the weaknesses of Android and I long for the day that apps can be installed on the memory card. The phone is smoother post Rom update but it still starts to slow down when you use 100mb+ of internal memory. I have a lot of apps installed but I would still want more and I have to constantly look to which ones I can uninstall. Not using it is not a reason to want it.
Google please fix this.
 
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I agree with everything that has been said except for only having 10 apps. There are 10,000 apps in the store and to only have 10 installed is a crime. The phone comes with many more than 10.
I have found that this is one of the weaknesses of Android and I long for the day that apps can be installed on the memory card. The phone is smoother post Rom update but it still starts to slow down when you use 100mb+ of internal memory. I have a lot of apps installed but I would still want more and I have to constantly look to which ones I can uninstall. Not using it is not a reason to want it.
Google please fix this.

Thanks for that - How many apps is 100mb+? I know not every app is the same size but on average.

Also, how much nternet usage would i get out of 500mb/month?

Sorrry, not very good with all these MBs etc lol :D
 
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In answer to the original question, I upgraded, had no issues in doing so and since have noticed the phone has been much quicker in transition between screens and is much speedier in loading all apps.

Only small glitch I've noticed (and I'm 95% sure it didn't do this before the upgrade), is occasionally when writing text messages, when you insert a full stop, it sometimes forgets to then auto-capitalise the next word. Slightly strange, and hardly a major problem, but slightly annoying for a grammar pedant who refuses to use text speak (sorry, txt spk). Given all the recommendations for the message app whose name I forget currently (chomp something?), I suspect I could alleviate this minor issue fairly easily.

All in all though, happy with the upgrade and very happy with the phone overall.
 
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100mb is enough for quite a lot of apps. I am not sure how many I have and have no inclination to count but that is not the point. If you get this phone you are a bit of a geek and as such you will want to try lots of apps. Spotify is great but I want to try tunewiki and last fm plus dizzler is good. All similar but why should I have to pick which to install. I have a large mem card. Also when you go online or use Twitter it takes up memory that you need to clear every now and then by clearing the cache. 165mb is just not enough and no such limitation exists on the iPhone which is the main competitor. I still prefer the hero but, come on Google sort it out.
 
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If you get this phone you are a bit of a geek and as such you will want to try lots of apps.

Bit of a sweeping generalisation surely? Sure we try a lot of apps, but the majority of us only keep the ones we find useful/indispensible. ;)

Spotify is great but I want to try tunewiki and last fm plus dizzler is good. All similar but why should I have to pick which to install.
There's more than enough RAM onboard to install literally dozens of apps. I know of one user who at the last count had over 240 apps installed on a Hero.

Also when you go online or use Twitter it takes up memory that you need to clear every now and then by clearing the cache.
You can, but what you gain in a few MBs of space you lose in the convenience and speed provided by the cached data.

165mb is just not enough and no such limitation exists on the iPhone which is the main competitor.
It's a smartphone not a desktop PC. You said in an earlier post, "I have a lot of apps installed but I would still want more". Frankly I think you're being unrealistic in your expectations, but your prayers can be answered by simply switching to the MoDaCo v2.x ROM which will move all installed apps to the SDHC card and cause all subsequently installed ones to install there too. Do a search on the forum and there's a ton of info on how to do it.
 
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Well my Hero was running like a champ before the update and it's running just the same after the update.
I haven't noticed any improvement but surely it did'nt get worse.
I must also say that if before the update I had about 60 apps installed now I have about 160 (BTW, is that many?), and it's still a joy to use everyday.

I also have a Nokia N97 (which now after dozens of firmwares and 3 new ROM in three months, has become a really good phone too) and my 1 year old HTC TouchHD , which is still the best win mob phone money can buy (yes it is far better than the TP2); but the little Hero even though I would prefer a bigger screen and it lacks voice dialing, has quickly become my favorite phone, the one I always want with me.
Now I am waiting for the HD2 (Leo) to substitute my aging TouchHD , but I still think that although I may well get rid of the N97 (specially if the new ROM due in october 20 fails to amaze me), I am far too addicted to Android and its amazing apps to stay without my beloved Hero or something at least as good with Android in it.

Anyway please tell me: are 162 apps too many?
Should I consider moving all apps to the mem card?
If yes can anyone provide me with a link to a step by step guide to the operation?

Thanx
V V
 
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162 apps! Wow, please yell me your secret. I don't have that many and if I install any more it will affect performance.
As for changing the Rom, I would loose sense UI, which is the reason for having a hero. Within a year more people will access the internet from smartphones than a computer. No other smartphone has the apps install in so little memory so why does the best smartphone have this limitation? As most contracts last for two years now days, I don't think it is unrealistic at all. The smartphone war is all about the apps.
 
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As others have said, it's possible to install apps to SD card. It works, though it works better if it's a class 6 card. To be honest i'm not entirely certain why they don't ship with larger amounts of memory - the n97 ships with 32gb, for example.

Regarding the Orange 500mb limit - I've found it hard to go over it, this month I've been /trying/ to use it all up, but I'm still 100mb or so in credit. If you get lots of attachments through to the phone, or use the youtube app a lot, you'll use it quite quickly, but if not it's not too hard to stick to.
 
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To be honest i'm not entirely certain why they don't ship with larger amounts of memory

A couple of reasons I can think of. One is cost i.e. NVRAM is still costly so more would drive up the unit cost of the device. Another is space; memory chips use space, and space is constrained by form factor. To add internal memory and retain the same dimensions would mean probably sacrificing something else.... the SDHC slot maybe, or the camera.
 
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Do you know what will happen when there is new HTC official Rom update and I have done the unofficial update?

You'll still be able to deploy the 'stock' updates, but will obviously lose any added functionality from the 'modified' one. So apps would become inaccessible unless reinstalled to the FAT32 partition on the sdhc card.
 
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