I suppose it really depends on your use of the phone. All Android phones can perform the same functions the differences are just "hardware perks" and "eye candy".
IMHO you should always have a recent backup as well, just in case a workaround can't be handily found ;) I personally run a nandroid backup once a week and let MyBackUp Pro run a nightly backup of my data as well.
Thank you!
Here are some additional notes I found during my quest:
Windows 7 x64 did not have the right driver for the Sprint RUU to work. I had to follow the guide from the link below
mydigitallife.info/2009/08/24/workaround-for-htc-hero-sync-problem-in-windows-7
In addition to that guide...