buying my hero today, what to do immediately

[sessman]

im buying a hero today after a lot of research between it and the moment. doesnt really matter why I chose the hero over the moment, fan boys from both sides will critique my decision regardless. anyway, im trying to figure out if theres anything else i need to do right when I get it other then immediately downloading Handcent, and delete the stock sms app by holding down the SMS app icon it comes with and dragging it to the bottom to remove it. i read something about disabling the notifications for it, not really sure if i have to do that? or how to? I believe thats all I really need to do right? to make sure my battery isnt completely useless. ive looked around these pages a lot in the last few days and have found thats basically the only issue, and that I shouldnt use a task killer. any other advice?
appreciate it, first post here.

 

[mmark27]

yup, you are on the right path. To disable the notifications from the messaging app.....open it (its okay, just don't send any texts from it) and hit menu. This brings up the options, the you can select to turn off notifications and automatic downloads of messages.

congrats on the Hero, it is an awesome phone!

 

[doanius]

I think you covered it.

here's the instructions to disable the internal sms from keeping the phone from sleeping http://androidforums.com/sprint-htc...nown-fix-fix-charges-faster-lasts-longer.html. That's the most important thing you can do. Then you can install handcent sms to use. installing handcent also installs a handcent widget for your home screen in the android widget area.

another app that you want to install is Flexilis. I find it to be a pretty cool tool. Flexilis = Antivirus + Backup + missing device search function.

 

[sessman]

flexilis havent read about that one yet, anyone else recommend to use it? any other essential things to do right away?

 

[mmark27]

I think you covered it.

another app that you want to install is Flexilis. I find it to be a pretty cool tool. Flexilis = Antivirus + Backup + missing device search function.

That'll kill your battery though, so beware.

 

[quentinfisher]

I would this first. A bit more in-depth on how Android handles memory/cpu usage and why you don't always need to use a task manager.
http://androidforums.com/sprint-htc-hero/12195-properly-close-app.html#post71111

Other than that your good, I would read a bit of the manual, there's a ton of settings and customizable features in this phone so it's a lot to take in at first boot up.

 

[ron]

What you should also do is send yourself 10 text messages and see if you get them all, and how long it takes.
Some phones do not get all text/sms messages, and the only fix is to exchange the phone.

 

[bobeink]

Update your voicemail. should do it automatically when you access it though.

 

[sessman]

interesting about the txt messaging, you think thats really necessary? ill read through the manual also, im pretty good with phones so hopefully it wont be to bad but i dont underestimate its abilities

also do the majority of people use basic phone features, txting, gmail email without issues? or is the phone basically plagued?

 

[doanius]

That'll kill your battery though, so beware.

Do you have any proof? I have been running it for a couple of weeks now and it doesn't seem to be that bad. It only scans when you're installing apps and only backs up at a certain specified time ( 2AM for me when I am sleeping with my phone plugged in) ..

 

[mmark27]

Do you have any proof? I have been running it for a couple of weeks now and it doesn't seem to be that bad. It only scans when you're installing apps and only backs up at a certain specified time ( 2AM for me when I am sleeping with my phone plugged in) ..

I ran it for a while on my phone and it was murderizing my battery (after I had fixed everything else, but I was still using a task manager...which I have since deleted). Many comments on it claim the same thing. I don't have any screen shots or hard data to back it up with. So, as I said, beware, but you can give it a shot. Naturally, anything that runs in the background all the time will be sucking down some processor power and battery along the way. But there are many apps that do that. So, to each his own.

 

[mmark27]

interesting about the txt messaging, you think thats really necessary? ill read through the manual also, im pretty good with phones so hopefully it wont be to bad but i dont underestimate its abilities

also do the majority of people use basic phone features, txting, gmail email without issues? or is the phone basically plagued?

For me, this phone is VERY, VERY far from plagued. I have had no issues (besides battery) with the Hero that other people are experiencing. It works without lag and handles all tasks admirably. I absolutely love the keyboard and the autocorrect (but I recommend turning off the haptic feedback and audible noise, mine seemed to speed up during typing after doing that). I do look forward to the patch update to the native messenging app as well as the Eclair update though.

 

[doanius]

I ran it for a while on my phone and it was murderizing my battery (after I had fixed everything else, but I was still using a task manager...which I have since deleted). Many comments on it claim the same thing. I don't have any screen shots or hard data to back it up with. So, as I said, beware, but you can give it a shot. Naturally, anything that runs in the background all the time will be sucking down some processor power and battery along the way. But there are many apps that do that. So, to each his own.

I didn't mean to attack your comment, just wanted to see if you had any evidence and if you did, I would have also removed it. I also got rid of the task manager and battery life seems to be pretty good.

I would agree that task running in the background will suckling power but remember that the phone would be sleeping unless some task is trying to wake up the phone. I don't think(not 100% sure) that Flexilis scans your phone all the time. It only scans when you install app and backs up data at a specific time.. other than that it sleeps. I could be wrong.

 

[sessman]

so I got the hero and so far im stoked, the only question i have is i have a notification that wont go away, it says "SYNC too many contacts deletes. then when u click on it it says "there are 255 deleted items for contacts account ******@gmail.com. What would you like to do? and it gives me 3 options, delete the items, undo the deletes, do nothing for now.

ive tried all three options and the notification just comes right back, any ideas?

 

[Flexilis]

Thanks everyone who recommended Flexilis, we appreciate it!

Per battery issues: Flexilis uses almost no memory or cpu, and really shouldnt make a difference on battery, with the only exception being the very first backup you perform if you have a lot of data, which will drain battery just as much as anything else on the device transferring large of amounts of data all at once.

If you think you are having battery life issues due to Flexilis, send support an email at support.at.flexilis.dot.com, and we'll look into if there's a bug there, so we can get it fixed!

Thanks everyone!

 

[mmark27]

Thanks everyone who recommended Flexilis, we appreciate it!

Per battery issues: Flexilis uses almost no memory or cpu, and really shouldnt make a difference on battery, with the only exception being the very first backup you perform if you have a lot of data, which will drain battery just as much as anything else on the device transferring large of amounts of data all at once.

If you think you are having battery life issues due to Flexilis, send support an email at support.at.flexilis.dot.com, and we'll look into if there's a bug there, so we can get it fixed!

Thanks everyone!

Actually, I want to retract my above statement. I reinstalled Flexilis out of curiousity and it works pretty awesome. My previous installation must have had scan always or something involved, or I was seeing the bluetooth memory leak/battery drain. It seems to scan files only when I install them and then once a week at my predetermined time. Very good app and sorry for the bad press above.