Should I hang in there

[michaelkahl]

So I'm a bit torn. I love the concept of Android, have been wanting Sense UI since HTC announced it last summer/spring and yet it just feels sluggish and outdated.
Part of me says take the phone back before 30 days, and another part of me says hold out for the community. Is it crazy to hold onto the phone hoping for either a root method / streamlined ROM release or update from HTC to address the issues and performance?
I also have the fear of 2.0 support, will it be there? It seems the answer is, wait and see what HTC says.
I'm considering the Moment, but there's no Sense
Droid looks awesome, but Verizon's pricing is more the issue.
Thought's or advice are appreciated.
PS: The sluggishness I'm talking about is how the phone hangs sometimes, laggy web page scrolling, laggy pinch and zoom, having trouble doing anything while I listen to music, etc. Network performance is fine on Sprint, call quality is good, just seems like the UI is 1/2 a step behind my finger.

 

[Edaze55]

So I'm a bit torn. I love the concept of Android, have been wanting Sense UI since HTC announced it last summer/spring and yet it just feels sluggish and outdated.
Part of me says take the phone back before 30 days, and another part of me says hold out for the community. Is it crazy to hold onto the phone hoping for either a root method / streamlined ROM release or update from HTC to address the issues and performance?
I also have the fear of 2.0 support, will it be there? It seems the answer is, wait and see what HTC says.
I'm considering the Moment, but there's no Sense
Droid looks awesome, but Verizon's pricing is more the issue.
Thought's or advice are appreciated.
PS: The sluggishness I'm talking about is how the phone hangs sometimes, laggy web page scrolling, laggy pinch and zoom, having trouble doing anything while I listen to music, etc. Network performance is fine on Sprint, call quality is good, just seems like the UI is 1/2 a step behind my finger.

I love when people speculate that there wont be any support from HTC. This really tickles me.

HTC (htc) on Twitter

There is still no new information on future updates to Hero. That doesn't mean their won't be updates, just no new info right now.

Im assuming they are being bombarded with questions about when they are going to let loose an update, so the tweet was to stop the onslaught of questions.

As I have already said before. I dont see HTC abandoning Sense. The Hero isnt the only phone running it. Its a great UI and they know that, it would be stupid of them to not update it. HTC supported Sense through the Peep mess, I dont see why you are worried they wont continue to support it.

As for the Moment, you'll be in the same boat with Samsung. 1.5 is supposed to be what it ships with and as you said. No Sense.

The "Droid", I guess thats what we are calling the Sholes these days, is rumored to ship with 2.0, but as you pointed out. Its VZ. Might as well open up your wallet and let them take what they want. Personally, I think the Sholes is ugly. Worst. Keyboard. Ever. Anyone know if the Sholes, I mean Droid, is supposed to have Blur? That might be its saving grace, but who knows how much lag that will cause?

Really you just need to decided if the phone does what you want it to do. If you arent happy with it, return it. From the sound of it, you arent happy with it. I dont see this chaning with a different android handset.

 

[michaelkahl]

I'm very happy with Android and Sense. I think that Sense is awesome, and I'm not just talking the pretty GUI. I appreciate the notification system, facebook & twitter integration, gmail syncing in addition to exchange support, the market. These are all good things.
What disappoints me is either a hardware or software optimization issue. While the 528Mhz cpu is outdated, it's not dead in the water. The ram and cpu should be enough I would think, somethings just not right with the small hangs I get while multitasking. I'm hoping that future updates or custom ROMs would solve these issues.
I'm coming from a WinMO and iPhone background. I never liked WinMo and the iPhone is nice and shiny, but lacks what I want in a serious phone. That something is the notification system and social networking integration of the Hero.
I love having the widgets on my phone and feel like they make checking things that much easier. I'm not tapping an icon to open an App, then going back to Home, tapping another icon. I just simply scroll through my widgets and read as I go. It's awesome!
HTC's People app is something I love as well. It's just awesome how my contacts are tied to Facebook, I can organize favorites, and see all emails and text from an individual user. I think it's awesome.
The Samsung and Droid will certainly be lacking Sense but Droid should have similar integration of social networks. I can't reiterate enough how the cost of VZW is the main issue.
My fear is that the Hero turns into a BB Storm. I'm not looking for that and would kick myself if I didn't keep my options open.
Don't take me for someone disappointed in Android because I'm not. I'm disappointed in the performance of this handset. This phone has been out for 6 months and we've seen one performance update from HTC, I just hope we see more. I do realize that Sprint's version has only been out a couple of weeks and differs from the EU version, I had just hope for a snappier interface. Maybe it just needs and will get refinement like the EU version?
Thanks for the input and thoughts. Please don't take me for a hater, I'm really trying to give this phone every chance and the benefit of the doubt.
Thanks

 

[sir_knoxalot]

I totally agree with both of your arguments but I feel more with michaelkahl. I too really liked the Sense UI and when I heard Sprint was coming out with the Hero I had my scheme my way through every carrier without being locked into a 2 year contract. Now that I have my Hero and my contract is solid (had pre for a while), I still like but I'm not in love with it. But you do have to agree it does way more than any phone out there with all of the customization and features. I do also believe HTC will come out with some updates to make it better.

So with that being said I am going to stick it out and I think it wouldn't hurt too bad if you did either.

 

[michaelkahl]

Thanks sir_knoxalot, I appreciate the support. This phone does do a lot and every time I've picked up my iPhone since getting it I realize that. The iPhone is simple and good at what it does, but it makes no mistakes about the fact that it's a media phone more than a smartphone. I enjoy listening to music and Pandora. As long as I can do that, which I can with Android, I'm fine. I don't care about watching movies on portable devices.

 

[markie-m8]

I love having the widgets on my phone and feel like they make checking things that much easier. I'm not tapping an icon to open an App, then going back to Home, tapping another icon. I just simply scroll through my widgets and read as I go. It's awesome!

How's that work then? I must be thick as I keep pressing home button if i want to do something else or open another app. Help.

 

[jlachesk]

I've had some similar thoughts about whether or not I was really as happy with the phone as I thought I would be.

For me, it really boils down to the fact that I want it to be the best. I think Android as a platform has the ability to be the best mobile OS, and I think that HTC has the ability to create the best handset, and (for me, at least) Sprint is the best I can get in a carrier. But Android still has its issues and the handset is still running older hardware. That being said, I plan to stick it out, relish as the custom ROMs start rolling out, and wait for a Snapdragon/Tegra/Whatever 2.0 (the next next best thing) and Android X.0 ultraphone. For now, the Hero does everything I want/need adequately and I frequently have "wow, that's awesome" moments using it.

In short, I'm keeping my Hero because the grass can only be so green and it's always going to taste like grass.

 

[michaelkahl]

In short, I'm keeping my Hero because the grass can only be so green and it's always going to taste like grass.

Nicely put.

 

[michaelkahl]

Something that I'm learning is that with my Hero, I have to wait for items to stop loading. What I mean is; wait till a web page finishes loading before scrolling, wait for photos to load from my SD Card prior to flipping through, wait for contacts facebook links to update prior to scrolling through my contacts etc.
I'm using a Class 6 4gb, just got my class 6 16gb. Is there anything I can do to help items load quicker from the card? I've heard people say that once you root an Android phone and partition the card for apps / swap it's faster. Is this right?
Any input is appreciated. Thanks

 

[mamiamjo]

If you're not happy I'd switch. At least be sure to take a look at the Moment when it's released on Nov 1 and then decide

best of luck

 

[michaelkahl]

Thanks for the advice mamiamjo, I'm at least hanging on to this phone until the first week of November. I started checking out the Moment unboxing videos today and have already taken note of some things. The boot of the Moment is much quicker than the Hero for starters. This isn't always an indicaation of user performance but I don't think it's one of poor performance.
I read somewhere that Samsunt actually placed a second cpu in the Moment for the modem/phone part of the device. Does HTC do this with the Hero or is the cpu handling both the modem/phone as well as PDA aspect of it?
Today has been a little better, but like I just noted I have learned to be patient while the phone finishes loading data before using it.

 

[mamiamjo]

I'm probably 90% happy with the Hero, but I'll be taking a look at the Moment as well. I'm looking for a little more responsiveness and higher resolution display. I'd like to try the hardware qwerty key board.

On the other hand I'm not sure I want to lose the HTC sense UI. I also don't want the phone to be too large and bulky.

We'll see what happens after I can play around with the moment.

 

[Edaze55]

Something that I'm learning is that with my Hero, I have to wait for items to stop loading. What I mean is; wait till a web page finishes loading before scrolling, wait for photos to load from my SD Card prior to flipping through, wait for contacts facebook links to update prior to scrolling through my contacts etc.
I'm using a Class 6 4gb, just got my class 6 16gb. Is there anything I can do to help items load quicker from the card? I've heard people say that once you root an Android phone and partition the card for apps / swap it's faster. Is this right?
Any input is appreciated. Thanks

Most of the people that root & use apps2sd are also usually putting on a custom ROM. That is most likely where the major speed increase is coming from.

Not to say that it couldnt speed things up, in some cases I imagine it would as it frees up memory from the phone itself.

 

[stynkfysh]

I say take it back to the store. The 528Mhz processor is just not enough on the first 3 HTC phones. The MyTouch doesn't have any fancy Sense UI and I returned it because after a while it got so sluggish I couldn't answer the phone sometimes and I had to remove apps which defeats the purpose of the phone.

Droid, Moment, Liquid, etc. are all coming down the line with better processors. Don't forget, Android is likely about to explode so you have to buy for future apps as well as today's. Find the best phone currently available on another carrier, buy it a couple days before your 30 days is up on Sprint and port your phone number over and return your phone. Then, within the next 30 days there should be an even better selection of phones and go back to Sprint if you want to. Keep track of your Sprint account number and when you sign up for a new phone and plan they will not check your credit again (Sprint rep. told me to do this). I tried the MyTouch and PalmPre this way.

Next stop for me is Droid. I have high hopes... As far as I can tell, it should have the processing capability of the iPhone 3GS. The question is, is the Android OS more or less resource intensive than the iPhones OS?

Then again, I suspect the reason the iPhone doesn't multi-task may have to do with Apple being smart enough to know that the mobile phone processors out there are not capable of multi-tasking yet while maintaining reasonable phone performance.

 

[michaelkahl]

The 3GS is a multitasking monster if you JB it and install Backgrounder. I've had several apps running one my phone at once and it never seemed to bog down. Granted all the apps weren't active all the time, but the same can be true on any multitasking phone.
The 3g definitely will show sluggishness if you have to many apps running at once on it. I'm usually happy enough to have Facebook & Pandora running in the background. To bad I get pushed over to EDGE, hear annoying buzzing in my car speakers, and drop the music.

 

[mr.menendez]

Yeah what's up with that buzzing sound over speakers when plugged into car charger? I have to wait to get to work to continue charging my phone.
I like this phone a lot but I do think they should've put a faster processor, if I skip 2 songs on my Pandora I can forget about it coming back on until I reboot.

The 3GS is a multitasking monster if you JB it and install Backgrounder. I've had several apps running one my phone at once and it never seemed to bog down. Granted all the apps weren't active all the time, but the same can be true on any multitasking phone.
The 3g definitely will show sluggishness if you have to many apps running at once on it. I'm usually happy enough to have Facebook & Pandora running in the background. To bad I get pushed over to EDGE, hear annoying buzzing in my car speakers, and drop the music.

 

[michaelkahl]

Yeah what's up with that buzzing sound over speakers when plugged into car charger? I have to wait to get to work to continue charging my phone.
I like this phone a lot but I do think they should've put a faster processor, if I skip 2 songs on my Pandora I can forget about it coming back on until I reboot.

The buzzing caused by the iPhone is due to the EDGE radio. I believe this is common among all GSM phones when they transmit over the EDGE network.
I haven't looked deep into the signal type that is used or why it affects audio equipment, but it does unless that equipment is well shielded.

 

[Heroic Lover]

I'm sorry, I have to just laugh at you spoiled people. Many of you sound rather pathetic, IMO. If you don't like the phone, return it, not make threads about doing so.

But seriously, I have to go go back to the point how spoiled you all appear. With a phone that does so many things well, why harp about its 'supposed' weakness, that being the processor?

Why?

Particularly when everyone knew what type of processor it had six months before its release?

But yet, I digress. Within the process of writing this post, I have seen the light of your struggles. This poor processor inside the Hero is causing so much stress in your lives. I mean, who should expect to deal with not scrolling while a web page takes 10 seconds to load?

That damn processor, I say....

 

[stynkfysh]

To:Heroic Lover

I literally lost at least the opportunity to earn thousands of dollars because my 528Mhz Android phone would not let me answer when ringing or not ring at all because I was running a Facebook widget and a twitter widget - and perhaps because it didn't remove other applications from resident memory when I closed them, I don't know. I also would try to type an email and it would take forever. In the end, I had to reset the phone with the widgets disabled and run Android app-killer apps after I ran apps.

So I returned the phone. Not being spoiled. The phone didn't fundamentally work well after prolonged use. Hopefully you wont run into the same problem, but I did. I also got burned on the Blackberry Storm so I am sensitive to getting a smart phone that doesn't perform.

 

[michaelkahl]

I'm sorry, I have to just laugh at you spoiled people. Many of you sound rather pathetic, IMO. If you don't like the phone, return it, not make threads about doing so.

But seriously, I have to go go back to the point how spoiled you all appear. With a phone that does so many things well, why harp about its 'supposed' weakness, that being the processor?

Why?

Particularly when everyone knew what type of processor it had six months before its release?

But yet, I digress. Within the process of writing this post, I have seen the light of your struggles. This poor processor inside the Hero is causing so much stress in your lives. I mean, who should expect to deal with not scrolling while a web page takes 10 seconds to load?

That damn processor, I say....

Opinions are like...
I come here asking for advice and the thoughts of others. I don't come here for rude and condescending replies. If you want to carry on a real discussion with the rest of us I invite you, otherwise keep out!

 

[305Cane]

To:Heroic Lover

I literally lost at least the opportunity to earn thousands of dollars because my 528Mhz Android phone would not let me answer when ringing or not ring at all because I was running a Facebook widget and a twitter widget - and perhaps because it didn't remove other applications from resident memory when I closed them, I don't know. I also would try to type an email and it would take forever. In the end, I had to reset the phone with the widgets disabled and run Android app-killer apps after I ran apps.

So I returned the phone. Not being spoiled. The phone didn't fundamentally work well after prolonged use. Hopefully you wont run into the same problem, but I did. I also got burned on the Blackberry Storm so I am sensitive to getting a smart phone that doesn't perform.

prolonged use? hasnt the phone been out like 2 weeks? maybe prolonged daily use? i still dont see your situation as being viable. i have put this phone under considerable multitasking strain and have not had the issues you have had. so, sorry your thousands of dollar opportunity hinged on a singular phonecall and its all due to the fact of a 528Mhz processor. you should sue. go get an iphone and go be a clone with a crappy network.


sorry for the hate, i just dont like the seemingly ridiculous excuses people try to use to hate on something like a phone. OMG the 528Mhz processor is keeping me from my maximum earning potential! the humanity!

 

[stynkfysh]

Not one phone call, many phone calls - and not the Hero, it was the MyTouch. Did you read my response at all?

I hoped that the added memory of the Hero would be compensation enough to eliminate the problems I had but the lag people are complaining about (and I have seen on countless YouTube videos) is enough to turn me off and convince me it is a processor issue (maybe processor+memory?).

It may be adequate for you Heroic Lover and that's great, you must be the uninformed new-to-the-smart-phone-world-minimalist-Android-needing target audience satisfied with the mediocrity of these first Android phones who is happy to receive less for their $. Enjoy!

In responding to the person who started this thread - I would return it and get something they will be happy with, not just mostly satisfied with.

 

[305Cane]

People really need to have some patience. This phone is brand new and everyone expects technology to be completely seamless and perfect on release. Hero is a great product, and yes it has a few issues, but as a launch device, its fantastic. Things like this take time, and sofar, the advantages of the hero with android along with its potential, vastly surpass that of any other phone/os combination on the market right now. go get a WM6.5 phone and go be disappointed and pray 6.5.1 fixes things. how about an Iphone on a crappy overpriced network , a phone with blatant shortcomings, and a sheep like following of people who enjoy being hoodwinked, or you can get a blackberry and suffer from a lack of a touchscreen( i dunno how some people do it) , but an overall good device. Patience is a virtue with technology.

 

[305Cane]

Not one phone call, many phone calls - and not the Hero, it was the MyTouch. Did you read my response at all?

not once did you say my touch in the post i quoted, not to mention, this is a HERO forum.

 

[Heroic Lover]

So the guy who outcrys the most in this thread doesn't even own the Hero?

Seriously?