Coming over from a Pre and Precentral

[mabmarc#WP]

Yeah. I have a pre also. I bought the hero for my wife on Friday from Best Buy. I have been learning it ever since. So far it does things I can't do on my pre. It has the Seven application (OWA email access instead of Activesync), Shazam, and a few others that aren't out for Webos. It also seams that the games are more graphic intensive. I like the home screen layout idea. It reminds me of a more customizable Windows mobile home screen. I had windows mobile before also.

I am still missing a good Audible audiobook client and Ewallet. The Pre has it with classic (still not great).

I do still like the multitasking management better on the pre, but android seems to be ok.

My wife came from a centro to the hero. She is on the fence about the on screen keyboard. Other than that she really likes the phone.

I am on the fence as to switch to the hero or wait for the developers get behind the pre. I figure once verizon gets the pre the developers will flock.

 

[awrnsmn]

Hi all, I to am coming from the Pre. Hey mobilehavic. I am also keeping my Pre incase Palm decides to get it right, but so far the Hero is a pretty cool phone!! Is there anyway to get e-mail as it comes in?? The Pre is just so far behind the Hero right now it's not even funny. So far I am having fun with it. Anyway...hello all, i'm sure I'll see you around alot. (by the way, paid $179 at Best Buy)

 

[anon(697)]

It has the Seven application (OWA email access instead of Activesync),

Hi - do you have a link to that? I can't find it on Androlib

Thanks
Dave

 

[mikepas]

Hey everyone. I currently have a pre and would like to also have a hero. I have been having trouble deciding how to do this since sprint doesn't have SIM cards. I was wondering if any of you could shed some light as to what type of data plan(s) you are using and if you have 2 lines and what not? Do you think its worth getting both? I love the Pre and have always wanted an Android phone. Also, do you know if there is any type of modding/ homebrew scene for Android? Any help would be awesome. Thanks so much!

I've got a Pre as well, and I love that phone so don't get me wrong, but I've been looking at the Hero and the Android scene so I decided to add a second line and get the Hero. If I like the Hero more than the Pre then I'll probably cancel the second line, send the Hero back, sell the Pre, and order a Hero for my primary line within the first 30 days. Or I might decide to keep the second line and the Hero on it as it'll only be about $30 more than I am paying right now and I usually blow $30 a month on junk food and soda so if I kept it it would be a "good thing" for me health wise. A win-win!

 

[R3Z]

Coming over from a Pre as well Absolutely in love with the Hero.

 

[slbailey1]

Is there anyway to get e-mail as it comes in??

If you have an exchange account go to the followm from the home screen:
menu > settings > data synchronization > Exchange ActiveSync > Schedule and select "As items arrive"

I think the following will do it for your main gmail account:
menu > settings > data synchronization > Google and make sure that the Auto-sync box is checked.

 

[mabmarc#WP]

Hi - do you have a link to that? I can't find it on Androlib

Thanks
Dave

I had to download it from Seven directly. It is not in the market. The link is here: SEVEN Beta Program :: Welcome to SEVEN Beta Program.

You have to be in the beta program to download the client. I had to allow the install of non-marketplace apps to install it. If you need further help let me know.

 

[awrnsmn]

If you have an exchange account go to the followm from the home screen:
menu > settings > data synchronization > Exchange ActiveSync > Schedule and select "As items arrive"

I think the following will do it for your main gmail account:
menu > settings > data synchronization > Google and make sure that the Auto-sync box is checked.

Thank you for the response.

 

[GoofyGirl]

I have several questions - maybe those of you that have the phone can answer for me:
1. Can you forward text messages?
2. Is there any form of cut, copy & paste on this phone?
3. When the phone rings can you really silence it by turning it over?
4. Is there any way to lock the screen when you answer a call so you don't push any buttons accidentally?
5. If anyone has the Pre and the Hero - how does battery life compare?

Any answers appreciated!

P.S. I have the Pre and my Hero is on order!!

 

[awrnsmn]

1. Not that I can figure out
2.Yes
3.No
4.Not that I see
5.Yes...I'm going back to my Pre. I tried it but like the Pre MUCH BETTER!!

 

[Tikerz]

Yes, you can forward text messages. Just tap and hold the message to bring up an options menu and select Forward.

 

[GoofyGirl]

Thanks for the answers!! Why are you switching back to the Pre? Can you give a little more detail?? Thanks!

 

[gbp]

I tell you what! In the past few months, I have used the Palm Pre, the Blackberry Tour... and now, I have simply experienced something worth all the hype: The HTC Hero on Sprint. I love it. This phone rocks!! In my humble opinion, it can do all the BB can do and more, and it's OS blows away the Palm Pre. I can't wait to see all that it can do!

I am not sure it blows away Pre.
I am having trouble right now to add my yahoo email to HERO.
According to SPRINT , this is the only phone that can't do yahoo.

 

[headcase]

Yeah. I have a pre also. I bought the hero for my wife on Friday from Best Buy. I have been learning it ever since. So far it does things I can't do on my pre. It has the Seven application (OWA email access instead of Activesync), Shazam, and a few others that aren't out for Webos. It also seams that the games are more graphic intensive. I like the home screen layout idea. It reminds me of a more customizable Windows mobile home screen. I had windows mobile before also.

I am still missing a good Audible audiobook client and Ewallet. The Pre has it with classic (still not great).

I do still like the multitasking management better on the pre, but android seems to be ok.

My wife came from a centro to the hero. She is on the fence about the on screen keyboard. Other than that she really likes the phone.

I am on the fence as to switch to the hero or wait for the developers get behind the pre. I figure once verizon gets the pre the developers will flock.

I'm in the same boat as you. Seven works (just tolerable versus the version they had on the Centro), but I think there's some tradeoffs between the Pre and Hero:

Hero advantages over the Pre:
- Much better battery life (perhaps a mix of having a stonger battery and an OS that isn't taxing the battery as much)
- Smoother scrolling in apps (eg. browsing doesn't experience the occasional scrolling jitters)
- Screen is easy to swipe with (at least for my fingers) -- nicer glass texture
- Screen resists fingerprints better than the Pre
- Thousands of apps and hacks to tweak galore
- Doesn't get hot to the touch
- Antennae has solid reception of Sprint's network (seems to be a weak point on my Pre)
- Being able to use Google's voice-to-text feature in numerous apps (eg. doing a web search, texting, etc.) -- very cool
- global search functionality works pretty well
- strong vibration alert (the Pre's is so soft, it's useless)


Pre advantages over the Hero:
- Cleaner & more intuitive interface
- Much better handling of alerts
- Physical keyboard (if you prefer that)
- Handles multi-touch throughout many apps, whereas on the Hero it's limited
- Easier to run multiple apps as well as close them out when done
- Phone app seems to be a bit more elegant versus what's on the Hero

The verdict is still out for me -- going to give the Hero a trial run for the next 30 days, and see where I stand. Something tells me that I'm forced to going with the Hero for the next 6 months, until further refinements on the Pre hardware and OS, and more apps are available (eg. 3rd party IM clients that support numerous protocols, LogMeIn, SlingPlayer, etc.)

 

[awrnsmn]

Thanks for the answers!! Why are you switching back to the Pre? Can you give a little more detail?? Thanks!

IMO, the Pre is a cleaner, easier, and more organized UI. I like the texting, e-mail and browser much better on the Pre. The Heros browser is horribly SLOW on the Hero, and e-mail lacks alot compared to the Pre. Please don't take this wrong, I think the Hero is a good phone, just not for me. I tried the Hero, but after using the Pre, I just cannot come to like it better. The battery life on the Hero seemed to be about the same as it is on the Pre, which to me as long as I can get thru the day, is alright as I charge it every night. These are just MY opinions as everyone will have differing opinions on cell phones. I will hang on to the Hero and watch to see if some things are improved over time and maybe revisit it in the future.

 

[thomas716]

I picked up the Hero on Sunday, coming from a Blackberry Curve. I like the Android OS, but I didn't like the onscreen keyboard. I'm going to hold out for a couple of weeks and get the Moment.

 

[acipollo]

I also Have the Pre and Hero. So far the Hero is winning in my opinion. The browser isnt really too much slower. Maybe a second or less per load up.. But it displays better on the screen than the Pre's does. Texting is better and overall unless you are hacking your Pre(which I did) the Pre doesnt have anywhere near the features or functions that the Hero has out of the box.

 

[vanityeverlastingbonet]

I still have the pre but i think I will be going to the Hero this weekend sometime.And I was banned from pre-central forums.
And is there a bigger htc forum out there ?

 

[phiqtion]

changed my pre yesterday for this new hero, all i can say is wow! what a great device since i sometimes even forget is a phone. you can truly make this phone YOURS, i've been customizing it since yesterday and sense UI gives you the power to do that.

i've owned a iphone, a pre and the hero, with sense UI the hero feels like an improved iphone since you have widgets and icons in every scene. and icons YOU want. for example, i have the main scene with the widget clock, the search widget and two icons, browser and market. on the next one i decided to put everything related to my social life so i have the people widget with my 3 top friends and their pictures get pulled from facebook btw and icons like facebook app, contacts, visual voicemail app, IM (MSN messenger support thank you HTC) my pre didn't have this!.

so you get the idea you can customize these scenes however YOU want with a slick background i'm telling you will love this android OS WITH! sense UI. i spent hours tweaking and tweaking before i entered marketplace. the battery life is also good, I however learned from the pre so i usually have everything turned off except evdo.

if you don't have the hero get it on sprint, they have the best plans and i also get 25% discount each month so i usually pay aprox. $105 FOR 2 LINES!! anytime any mobile with hero truly rocks. oh and my wife has a curve.

all that said, the phone isn't laggy ONLY when it's busy doing something. like installing a new app you will notice the drop of frames but normal use it runs fine trust me, nothing to worry about.

palm pre goodbye, welcome hero.

 

[vanityeverlastingbonet]

Is sprint picture mail on this device and can we play animations gifs on this phone ?