Ordered a HTC Hero through Orange, Will I get the latest rom?

[nutter1980]

First off... This is my first post on this forum.. So a big helloooo to all
After much thinking over the past few weeks I have made a decision to get a HTC Hero instead of an Iphone with Orange, Hope I made the right choice.

I hope to receive the phone tommorow and would like to ask afew questions.

1. Will the phone come with the latest firmware update that resolves the lag problem? If it doesnt where can I get it from?

2. I want to purchase a bigger microsd card and was wondering which one to get in terms of class 2,4,6?

3. I would also like to ask what your average monthly data usage is with your provider, I currently have 250mb with Orange which sounds to me like not enough, I have wifi at home so its not too bad.

4. Are there any map apps that dont require a data connection that will just work based on GPS?

Again sorry if im asking alot on my first post ! Cant wait to get the phone.

 

[Quazar]

Hello,
I'm due to receive my HTC hero tomorrow too on orange, what contract did you find for yours?

Also, don't orange's data plans come with 500mb as standard?

Would like to add, how do we find out if the update is on the phone once it arrives, and how do we update the software?

Thanks

EDIT: When I had my data plan on my sony ericsson, I only used like 50mb a month max, but I'm sure the HTC will be using more data, I would think 500mb should be enough though.

 

[nutter1980]

I was a PAYG customer on orange.
I paid

 

[sebsal]

I received mine from Orange on 9th oct and it didn't have the latest rom. You can get the new rom from the HTC website and the Orange website.

I just typed "HTC Hero orange rom" into google

I've used 55 meg so far. No streaming or anything but I have downloaded loads of apps from marketplace. Im a bit concerned at the speed im using it up

 

[cheggerspop]

1. Will the phone come with the latest firmware update that resolves the lag problem? If it doesnt where can I get it from?

2. I want to purchase a bigger microsd card and was wondering which one to get in terms of class 2,4,6?

3. I would also like to ask what your average monthly data usage is with your provider, I currently have 250mb with Orange which sounds to me like not enough, I have wifi at home so its not too bad.

4. Are there any map apps that dont require a data connection that will just work based

1) I wouldn't have thought it would come with the latest ROM, but you can check by press

Menu > Settings > About Phone > Check the "Build number" > The latest for Orange is 2.73.61.5, so if not that, you can get the update via the below link -

ROM Upgrade for HTC Hero (Orange)_2.73.61.5

Just follow the instructions, which are very easy. Updating the ROM deletes data from your phone, so I'd install this before you start to personalise or add contact details to your phone.

2) The higher the class, the quicker the data can be read from it. Personally I have a 4GB - Class 2 and haven't had any problems, but my understanding is the higher the cards storage capacity, the higher you should have the class, so if you're going for a 16GB for example you'd be best to have Class 6.

3) I'm with Vodafone and my monthly allowence is 500mb, but having had the unit for three weeks, it doesn't look like I'll use even half of that. However, I only use it for basic stuff when out and about, rather than downloading files or streaming music/video, so I think it all depends on what you're intending to do on-the-go,

4) Not aware of any map apps that don't require data. All the map info would need to be on the phone, which would be a large file and most apps are only a few MB at the most.


Chegs.

 

[daveybaby]

What cheggers said, except:

(2) The higher the class, the quicker data can be *written* to it. Read speeds will generally be the same regardless of class. If the reason you need a big card is to put lots of music on it, you dont need a fast card for that. If youre going to be recording lots of video, a faster class of card might be beneficial.

If youre planning to root your phone, put a custom ROM on it, and move app storage from internal memory to the SD card, a fast card would be beneficial since a lot of apps would then be caching data to the SD card. Not sure which apps cache data to the SD card as standard though...

(4) Copilot live stores its maps on the SD card, so it doesnt need any data connection once installed. However, its a satnav rather than a general mapping app, so YMMV. Also it costs money (about

 

[cheggerspop]

What cheggers said, except:

Well.......I was almost right!?!


Chegs.

 

[daveybaby]

Heh, sorry - i have a bit of a bee in my bonnet about the SD card class thing. Used to be quite active on an MP3 player forum a while back & got sick of people recommending the fastest class of card for players because it would improve the sound quality...

So it's an automatic reaction now, i cant help it