Is the htc hero phone a good phone to get? What about the palm pre?

[CarolClark]

Hi All,

Right now I have the palm centro, had it over a year now. Time to upgrade and I really want to get another touch screen phone. Been looking at the htc hero phone but would like to know others thoughts and opinions.

 

[Fazulka]

The hero is ok, but you may be disappointed with how it runs some newer apps / games. If you get it don't expect to have the latest updates, it is not getting anything over 2.1. There is a community that works on improving the phone through custom roms, and they even have a 2.2 rom for the hero, but a newer phone will still likely work better.

 

[dante501]

OK from those two options the Palm pre is the better choice. Because you can make it run 1 ghz some 1.2 ghz then it does 3d games very well and it does more things even though the hero has more apps the pre is hands down the better choice and hacking the Palm is way easier. And like I said its runs fast if you hack it. And you can see the display in sunlight just fine. Unlike the Hero. Otherwise get the evo or epic.

 

[user7618]

OK from those two options the Palm pre is the better choice. Because you can make it run 1 ghz some 1.2 ghz then it does 3d games very well and it does more things even though the hero has more apps the pre is hands down the better choice and hacking the Palm is way easier. And like I said its runs fast if you hack it. And you can see the display in sunlight just fine. Unlike the Hero. Otherwise get the evo or epic.

Yes, other than the Pre's hardware is hit or miss at best. Plus the dev community for the hero is just outstanding. Also, take into account that since hp purchased webOS I wouldn't expect too much in software support.


Sent from my CDMA Hero. I got some hot froyo on hero action here!

 

[canterrain]

I would recommend against the Palm Pre.

The software was fantastic. Seriously the most intuitive multitasking software I have ever seen. It just made sense. To anyone.

But the hardware.. sadly was mostly junk. It looked good. It sounded good. But just something about it... there were far too many people with far too many problems.

There's a reason HP is interested in what the software can do, but made no mention of continuing on the palm pre itself. I look forward to what they can do with the software, it'd make an excellent tablet.

But the phone... I just can't recommend because of faulty hardware.

 

[dgcamero]

As one who had a Pre before a Hero, I would ask if you value text messaging and instant messaging? If you value either of the two, go with the Pre. After a few months of using the Hero, I have about 5000 text messages. The biggest thread has 1560 messages. It took me 3 minutes and 35 seconds to open that one thread. The texting is so worthless that I switched back to my Centro! My Centro has 20k+ texts, and all threads open instantly. The Pre's messaging is great (tho still not Centro fast) and I truly miss the all in one nature of the chat logs (all sms, google chat, yahoo, aim, etc from one person ends up in the same thread). If you're not a texter or an instant messenger, and you value navigation and web browsing, then consider the Hero. It honestly rocks at the two. The Pre is no slouch at web browsing, but its browser just isn't quite as good as the Hero's. Sprint Nav (Pre and Hero) <<< Google Nav (Hero), but it is functional, and will get you there. The Pre has slightly better reception (especially if you slide the keyboard down) and roughly 30% better battery life in fringe reception areas, and turning on wifi will actually improve the battery (and doesn't slow the phone down). The Hero has ~ 30% better battery life in good reception areas, but turning on wifi slows the phone down and eats the battery. Neither one of them has force roaming like the Centro, and they both have bad reception and bad battery life compared to the Centro.

Pre's hardware is honestly not any worse than the Hero. I'm on my 4th Hero in as many months. My first Pre worked fine for 6 months. I think that HTC's "quality" is a myth, I would compare it to a 1999 VW Jetta. It looked and felt better on the inside than any other car in the sub $60k price bracket, but they generally didn't hold up very well. The Pre just kinda feels loosey goosey from the get-go, but as long as one can refrain from dropping it on the power button and won't charge it with a 50 cent Big Lots car charger, it will probably hold up fairly well. The most frequent problem is the phone gets dropped on the power button in the corner which messes it up and you gotta be careful when pulling aux. plugs and headphone plugs out (same as with Centro) or sometimes the phone thinks the headphones are still plugged in.

I am trying to not endorse or knock either phone too much, but I'm pretty unhappy with my Hero --- but if you're not much of a texter then you'll probably be happy with the Hero.

 

[Malix]

My pre is lying round somewhere. Hail the Hero.

 

[qdigga]

I went from a Pre to a Hero and never looked back. In re: to txt'ing, if you throw on a replacement txt program, like Handcent, and add some txt cleaners (remove old text programs), the experience isn't so bad.

The battery life is horrid (may be the case with other android phones too, dunno). I'm on a stock Hero 2.1 with the latest update on it. The update seemed to fix some lag issues and whatnot, but my phone will not last on one charge a day.

The hardware seems to be ok. It looks nice. feels more solid in the hand than the Pre. My Pre felt like a McDonalds happy meal toy and I HATED IT. If you are ok with working on a virtual keyboard, the Hero is ok. Of course the keyboard is no where near as big as an Evo though.

One question. Why would you even want to go to either a Pre or a Hero with your upgrade? You sound to be on Sprint and they are offering the Epic and Evo (both awesome 4g androids). If it's price, I say hold off a few months and save up a little. If price isnt the issue, I say get one of those instead of messing with the Hero...

 

[markyflies]

Hero SUCKS!!!! I have had mine for 9 months now. It is getting progressively worse. SLOOOOOOW to do anything. Reboots itself 3 or 4 times day, sometimes in the middle of a call. Running 2.1 non rooted have the latest update. Which did absolutely nothing. Faster at what!
Guess my big issue is with Sprint. They always seem to get the crappy phones.
Well you get what you pay for.

 

[Fazulka]

Hero SUCKS!!!! I have had mine for 9 months now. It is getting progressively worse. SLOOOOOOW to do anything. Reboots itself 3 or 4 times day, sometimes in the middle of a call. Running 2.1 non rooted have the latest update. Which did absolutely nothing. Faster at what!
Guess my big issue is with Sprint. They always seem to get the crappy phones.
Well you get what you pay for.

Root and install a custom ROM. The process seems daunting at first but it is pretty easy to do, and you won't believe how well the ROM cookers have made this phone work.

 

[igotsanevo4g]

Just get an evo

 

[srkmagnus]

The Hero is almost a year old and by technology standards its outdated. By all means the phone is good and I can say that I have been satisfied with it since I came from a Centro. But if you really want a phone you'll enjoy for the next two years, unless you plan on buying off contract or are a premier member, then you might be happy with a newer device like the Evo or Epic.

I can't say much about the Pre since I have never used one. If the Evo or Epic is out of the picture, then yes, you will be happy with the Hero since it is a good device with a large Dev community supporting the phone. If you get it through sprint you can always return it within the allowed time and get another device if you are not satisfied.

 

[drdeath91]

I'm a former Pre user. I highly advise against it. I breaks if you look at it funny and doesn't run for crap if you don't hack it. It lacks any major apps and it seems to not be advancing anytime soon. The only plus the Pre has over any android device is the ease of hacking. You also don't have to worry about bricking WebOS. I haven't used a Hero to make a judgement call for the comparison. Just save up your pennies and get one of the big boy Android devices like the EVO or the Epic...

 

[BestHubris]

The Hero has a longer effort with a good developer community, but the EVO is newer, faster, and has better hardware. Will the EVO community catch up as the phone gets more mainstream, or is it better to stick with Hero where you know you will always have plenty of customization options?

 

[zcsm9]

I'm in pretty much the same situation of choosing between a Pre and the Hero with Sprint. The ability to overclock the Pre makes it increadibly appealing. Can the same be done with the Hero? I've read a lot about its sluggishness and need to know if it can be remedied. It's also good to know that if the Hero isn't going to recieve any of the newer updates, at least it's got a good community behind it.

 

[user7618]

I'm in pretty much the same situation of choosing between a Pre and the Hero with Sprint. The ability to overclock the Pre makes it increadibly appealing. Can the same be done with the Hero? I've read a lot about its sluggishness and need to know if it can be remedied. It's also good to know that if the Hero isn't going to recieve any of the newer updates, at least it's got a good community behind it.

Yes, once you root, you can oc the hero. Mine is running at 691mhz right now. Depending on your particular unit and tastes, you can oc to 768mhz.



Sent from my CDMA Hero. I got some hot Froyo on Hero action here!

 

[jeffmorr]

NOOOOOOOOO. I have a Hero from TELUS in Canada, and it's the worst Android phone you could get right now. It's slow, because of it's processor, and Sense makes it slower. There is no reason why you shouldn't get the Evo. You're lucky you even have the decision to ever make such a good upgrade. The best phone in Canada is the Desire, which is a good phone, but the other carriers don't have any phone close to it, and we got the phone a couple of months before HTC announced the Z and HD

 

[coadman]

Hero SUCKS!!!! I have had mine for 9 months now. It is getting progressively worse. SLOOOOOOW to do anything. Reboots itself 3 or 4 times day, sometimes in the middle of a call. Running 2.1 non rooted have the latest update. Which did absolutely nothing. Faster at what!
Guess my big issue is with Sprint. They always seem to get the crappy phones.
Well you get what you pay for.

Do you think rooting your phone, will help it run faster? Just curious, as my son has a HERO and has made the same comments you just made. I am reading about rooting, so am thinking that may help.

 

[srkmagnus]

Generally, rooting will allow you to install a ROM that is optimized for speed and smoothness, in addition to all the other perks that come with root. If you are not happy with the phone give root a try and see how that goes. You'll never have the speed or responsiveness of the Evo, but you can get the most out of the Hero by rooting it.