Have a Pre considering switching

[Siteoner]

I have heard a lot of good things about the Hero and Id like to stay on Sprint Anyway. So can someone with the Hero(preferably someone who had and enoyed the Pre also) give me a pros/cons from their own experiences with te phone?? Thanks in advance

 

[kennyidaho]

Better hardware, better customization, better application options, better interface once you realize that the Pre's interface is all fisher price and just gets in the way more often then not. Developer environment that is going somewhere and actually allows developers to write applications.

The Pre is good for some people....someone who needs a phone that just works to have basic calendar functions and decent web browsing. If you want to do more with your device then it's garbage.

 

[dgrobe2112]

is there any idea of weather or not there will be multitasking on it? in later versions of the software?

 

[kennyidaho]

Multitasking on what? The Hero? Where did you get that there is not any sort of multitasking?

Today I was listening to a podcast, browsing the web and sending texts, seemed to multitask just fine.

 

[dgrobe2112]

Just not familiar with it much yet.. still learning

 

[kennyidaho]

About the only smartphone that I know of on todays market that does not support multitasking is the iPhone (and older Palm OS devices). Some do it more elegantly then others.

 

[powerbyte#AC]

Hey there Dgrobe....I just got my Hero the other day after spending the last 5+ months with my Pre. The only reason I came over to the Hero, was I was very interested in the Android OS, and I only had to pay $1 for the phone thanks to an Account Exec at Sprint that posted on the Precentral forums. That being said, all I can truly say is WOW WOW WOW WOW! Everything about this phone (to me) EXCEPT for the web browser is incredible. The web browsing of the Pre is much better....

Customization and apps beat the living daylights out of the Pre, and the build of the Hero is superior to the Pre in every way.

My Pre sits awaiting me in my dresser drawer. I decided not to get rid of it, because I think the WebOS platform if handled correctly (probably WON'T be) could be the OS of choice going forward.

For now however, and with Android 2.0 about to go live on the Hero, the HERO is the OS of the NOW!!!!

Feel free to shoot me any questions you have!

Cheers,

Robert

 

[jersey221]

i have a pre right now too and have stuck by palm for a long time and they are just taking way to long...the thing is they are supposed to be announcing something at ces so im kinda afraid to switch to the hero....but i love the way the hero looks how android works its just amazin....im wondering how do you buy the apps is it paypal or what?and should i go with the hero or moment idk if i need 7 screens....i like the idea of widgets to....i want the hero now that im thinking of it

 

[boomhower1820]

I took the jump last night. I have had a Pre for about three months but have grown tired of the sluggishness of it. Heck this morning I went to check the weather and couldn't, "to many cards open". Thing is I didn't have any open. The memory management leaves a lot to be desired. The fact they still haven't turned on the GPU, no video on the camera, among other things have lead me to give Android a shot. I also am keeping my Pre but I doubt it will be for long, I'll probably get rid of it and wait for the Pre 2. Gotta love yearly upgrades.

 

[qdigga]

Had a Pre for a few months also and made the jump to the Hero the day it came out 11/6. I wont waste your time repeating the good posts above me. One thing I DO want to mention is that if you get a Hero, DL "Dolphin browser" for the internet and set it as your default browser. Runs a lot better than the standard HTC browser AND uses "Palm-esque" gestures to execute web commands like "back, forward, bookmark, etc"... It doesnt currently utilize multi-touch, so no pinch and scale. However, there is a zoom tool which is quick and easy to use... a MUST have browser for Android...

 

[Kamen]

I switched to a Hero from a Pre that I got at launch about two weeks ago and I am not looking back. It is a solid built great phone. Here are some of my Pros and Cons.

Pros

-It is well built as already stated. The Pre felt cheap in my hand, like it was a toy cell phone I bought for my Niece.

-Dialer app is smooth and quick. I had so many issues with the Pre's dialer lagging so bad I don't even want to start.

-The phone overall is smooth and quick.

-Tons of nice apps and widgets.

-HTC Sync allows you to sync your Outlook with your phone free of charge. I still cannot believe Palm makes you by a third party app for $29.99 just to do this.

-Facebook Sync will only sync Facebook accounts to the contacts you have in your address book. With the Pre, when you would sync with Facebook you got all of your friends which took up space in your Contacts with people you more than likely have no intentions of ever calling.

-Auto-correct for Spelling in Texts and Emails is a really nice feature.

-There is a video recording feature built in unlike with the Pre.

-Overall camera quality is 100x better then the Pre. With the Pre I always had somewhat grainy looking pictures.

-The ability to do a search on Google with your voice. This is very useful when you are driving and need the phone number to some place. Just hit the "Speak" button say what you are looking for and it finds it.

Cons

-Battery drain issue after sending and receiving texts with the built in Messaging app. Apparently when you use it it locks the Phone services in an "on" state thus draining the battery quite quickly. There is a workaround for this though until a fix is developed. Basically you disable that Messaging app and install one such as HandcentSMS from the Market. HandcentSMS is by far way better then the vanilla Messaging app you get so bug or no bug, I'd still use it.

-It may take a little time to get used to the OS and the UI as it is different from the Pre. I cannot tell you how many times during the first few days I tried to swipe away an app to close it or an email to delete it. Not really a con though.

 

[kennyidaho]

Had a Pre for a few months also and made the jump to the Hero the day it came out 11/6. I wont waste your time repeating the good posts above me. One thing I DO want to mention is that if you get a Hero, DL "Dolphin browser" for the internet and set it as your default browser. Runs a lot better than the standard HTC browser AND uses "Palm-esque" gestures to execute web commands like "back, forward, bookmark, etc"... It doesnt currently utilize multi-touch, so no pinch and scale. However, there is a zoom tool which is quick and easy to use... a MUST have browser for Android...

It supports multitouch now and it's pretty dang smooth. There was an update a week or so back I think for it.

 

[anon(5021)]

Here is the summary of my journey:

I bought the Pre on launch day. I loved it.... I was obsessed. Then I had build quality issues with the oreo effect and squeaking battery doors... 3 refurbs later I was still happy simply because coming from a Blackberry Curve 8330, webOS was a gift from God. Then, I got bored. With an exception of a few homebrew apps, the apps available sucked. The phone was made out of cheap material.

I then sold it for the full 200 dollars that I bought it for to someone locally. My sister then gave me her week old refurbed (but surprisingly perfect) Blackberry Tour. It was amazing, but still lacking the fun factor. The only really good things about the berries are the build quality and reliability. The browser is a joke, the OS is boring and so on...

Some random kid in class one day asked me to trade for a Hero (he was going overseas almost immediately and needed a world phone). I was skeptical but he brought the phone in the box still all wrapped up and everything. I contacted sprint... and verified it was new and not stolen. He even brought a receipt. I traded him on the spot for my Tour.... Handset and battery only, for a new hero in box with all accessories.

my feelings...

The pre was amazing for quick searches and browsing the internet. Card view was a great idea but memory management killed it for me. I was happy with my berry but just happy, not excited to use it or anything. then i got my hero!!!

best device i've ever had. snappy and responsive. apps are everywhere and they are good. build quality is superb. battery life is better than the pre.... way better. the keyboard on the pre was a bonus... but it sucked anyway... hero onscreen keyboard is amazingly smart and i rarely make mistakes.

i would take the hero over a pre any day. and like i said, i was obsessed with my pre.

android is just better and the phone's build quality is so much better with the hero.

good luck

 

[boomhower1820]

For you Pre switchers, how does the battery life compare?

 

[gus_mccrae]

I tried the Pre a few months ago and the battery life was really bad. It was a nice device but in my experience the Hero blows it away. My Hero doesn't lag as much as the Pre did and so far haven't had any problems with email. The Palm synergy would stop working for me and had to do a lot of manual sync to get it going again.

YMMV though since a lot of people haven't had issues with their Pre. Battery life on the Hero has been excellent so far with about 12 hours of moderate use on a full charge. Couldn't every get a full 8 hours on my Pre.

 

[barkins]

I just made the plunge into the Android world yesterday switching from the Pre to the Hero. My first impression... WOW.

Hero is by far a superior phone to the Pre. It does everything the Pre does but so much better. Lots of great apps to at your finger tips, widgets are amazing and not to much no more sluggish OS.

The Pre was notorious of being sluggish, it was to the point where you couldn't use the damn thing till your rebooted it. Imagine the feeling if you're trying to show your friends some photos and bam, the thing just halts to a freeze.

Just get a Hero, you won't regret it.

 

[zeravla531]

I had the Pre from June to October and have had the Hero since its launch date.

Here's what I miss about my Pre:

Card system - hands down the best way to multi-task on any phone. Even though multi-tasking on the Hero is pretty simple, it isn't as intuitive and easy as the Pre. And closing a program doesn't require a task management app, just a flick

Unified Messaging - i liked that Google Chat & SMS was in the same window

Keyboard - a physical keyboard was a nice bonus

Flash - self explanatory

What I love about my Hero:

Desktop - 7 totally customizable desktops where i can put virtually any shortcut, app or widget

Apps - 16,000 apps to 300+, i mean there's really not much to say. Google Sky & NES Emulator alone are worth the switch

Video Camera - self explanatory

Customization - You can customize virtually every aspect of the Hero, not so much on the Pre.

Build Quality - blows the Pre out of the water

Virtual Keyboard - i do miss the physical keyboard, but at the same time i also wish the Pre had a virtual keyboard for quick replies and data entry. Plus the Hero keyboard is great with its spell correction.

Compass - allows you to use apps like Layar and Google Sky

Text forwarding - Maybe the Pre got this with an update (haven't been keeping track), but yeah

Notification ringtones - same as above


There are probably more i'm missing but these are the ones that come to mind.

 

[ballajb]

I just recently switched over from a pre to a hero 2 days ago. I liked the pre but it was taking too long for more apps to come along. I like the fact that with the android system you can customize the phone and there is a lot of apps. The thing that i have noticed is that the hero is a lil slower at doin things like the internet. The camera loads up a lot faster than the one on the pre and i like that you can record videos also. Im not mad with the switch at all. Also now you can hack the hero so I am going to do that next

 

[cab101]

switch to hero from pre

get rid of the pre,the hero is a much better phone.as a pre owner since the day it came out and after going through 4 pre's it was time to make the switch and of all the phones i have owned so far the hero is the best so far,you will not be sorry for switching

 

[TaeKwonDonkey]

I haven't had either phone but I know that if you love the multitasking and multitouch, you might feel like going back. However once you see all the apps that android has, you won't turn back.