Has the Hero lived up to the hype?

[bjb_nyj101]

I'm running JACxHero v1.2 on my G1...
So far I am liking hero... I am experiencing no lag at all, everything is fine.

But, a lot of people have made this phone to seem like some great improvement on android. Granted, I've only been using hero for a few days, but I have yet to come across something that stood out to me that is much better than stock android. Obviously, the Sense UI looks very sexy, and is much more polished, but as far as functionality, I don't see anything that would cause me to upgrade (let alone pay $600 for an import).

The 'People' integration is cool I guess, hardly necessary.
The camera app is an improvement....
The keyboard is better, but that can be pushed to rooted dream's and magic's...

For the people that upgraded to the hero from a G1 or Magic, why did you choose to do so? In what ways are you more productive on your hero than your previous android device? This question also goes out to people running Hero ROM's. Besides aesthetics, what are some significant improvements that are in hero?

I guess I'm just curious because I've heard many people say that the Hero is the first phone to make android 'usable'... I don't find it any more usable, nor do I find that I am any more productive on it.

[Iceberg]

I think the main thing about the hero is the fact that it actually lives up to being able to be used as a all touch screen device.
Noah from Phone Dog made a really good point on the My Touch I hadn't realized and it if you don't have multi touch on an all touch device it is awful to type on, especially in QWERY mode because it can't calculate all the input you're typing accurately.

I now think the Hero is a pretty neat phone, with multi touch, Its UI, and ear piece jack, the 3.5? Or whatever.

BUT I think when Eclair starts rolling out/the next update for "With Google" branded phones that includes multitouch I don't really see the Hero being that much better.

But all in all I really just want that sms widget the Hero has!

[ggrant3876]

I think the main thing about the hero is the fact that it actually lives up to being able to be used as a all touch screen device.
Noah from Phone Dog made a really good point on the My Touch I hadn't realized and it if you don't have multi touch on an all touch device it is awful to type on, especially in QWERY mode because it can't calculate all the input you're typing accurately.

I now think the Hero is a pretty neat phone, with multi touch, Its UI, and ear piece jack, the 3.5? Or whatever.

BUT I think when Eclair starts rolling out/the next update for "With Google" branded phones that includes multitouch I don't really see the Hero being that much better.

But all in all I really just want that sms widget the Hero has!

If you read all of the Hero posts, I think they are having all of the problems we initially had, not the same ones, just problems.

[bjb_nyj101]

Thanks for the reply.

I agree that once donut and beyond start rolling out, the usefulness of hero will diminish. I just wished that this is how stock android looked and felt.

But all in all I really just want that sms widget the Hero has!

The sms widget is cool. I wish that mail widget would work with gmail, it sucks that its only for pop/imap/exhange accounts.

Are there no widgets in the market that replicate that functionality? Have you tried running a hero build lately?

[paul roberts]

I think the main thing about the hero is the fact that it actually lives up to being able to be used as a all touch screen device.
Noah from Phone Dog made a really good point on the My Touch I hadn't realized and it if you don't have multi touch on an all touch device it is awful to type on, especially in QWERY mode because it can't calculate all the input you're typing accurately.

I now think the Hero is a pretty neat phone, with multi touch, Its UI, and ear piece jack, the 3.5? Or whatever.

BUT I think when Eclair starts rolling out/the next update for "With Google" branded phones that includes multitouch I don't really see the Hero being that much better.

But all in all I really just want that sms widget the Hero has!

donut is next éclair is a long way off.

[Iceberg]

If you read all of the Hero posts, I think they are having all of the problems we initially had, not the same ones, just problems.

I think the fact that Android is an Open Source platform every new Android phone that isn't Google branded will have its errors and quirky starts. Iphone's and Window Mobile phones come out working well because its the same think OVER and OVER and OVER again.

I don't think the My Touch has had any troubles yet and this kinda supports my whole OS idea.

Thanks for the reply.

I agree that once donut and beyond start rolling out, the usefulness of hero will diminish. I just wished that this is how stock android looked and felt.

The sms widget is cool. I wish that mail widget would work with gmail, it sucks that its only for pop/imap/exhange accounts.

Are there no widgets in the market that replicate that functionality? Have you tried running a hero build lately?

The Android platform will probably roll out so fast that the need to hold onto a phone for what it can do will be obsolete in enough time, I think everyone should just hold fast to which ever model they like most.
For me? Hello G1 with an extended battery pack to look like a Windows mobile phone lol.

The HTC Lancaster looks nice too though, well mainly just because its physcial QWERY.


Hero widgets can't be copied because its made off its custom UI, so it can have animations and scrolling capabilities I believe, while the regular Android platform can't have scrolling widgets on the home screen or animations, however they can pop out and scroll or be animated. Examples mippin.com's widget, and a weather widget.

I'm not too big on mail, but again the whole With Google branded probably was why, perhaps if T Mobile gets a hold of it this feature will be implemented.

donut is next éclair is a long way off.

Too many rumors, Too many new phones coming out, will be here sooner than later. Pratically already have the best of Donut thanks to Cyan.


And I forgot to add that I haven't tried to add a Hero rom yet, I want to try it out an all but I'm just not too sure, its nice that its running well finally but I'm just currently starting to enjoy apps on my sd card

[crazythunder]

i've run many hero roms. it's like your girl putting on makeup. same chick,different look. eagerly awaiting the arrival of my touch pro 2. windows haters gonna bash me on that move. but....i have my reasons.

[djunio]

I dont think it is living up to the hype, yes the Sense UI is awesome but all the reveiews I've read and seeing the phone in person, Its not a big improvement over the G1. The latest Hero roms seem to run faster than the hero. There is no 3g, theres wifi issuses and it lags. My friend says he's about to sell the Hero because its not what he expected.

[hondamx525]

i've run many hero roms. it's like your girl putting on makeup. same chick,different look. eagerly awaiting the arrival of my touch pro 2. windows haters gonna bash me on that move. but....i have my reasons.

Hurray for the touch pro 2! Ive had it for a few days now i love it. Still hanging around here though to see whats up and help people out.

/end off topic.

[bjb_nyj101]

i've run many hero roms. it's like your girl putting on makeup. same chick,different look. eagerly awaiting the arrival of my touch pro 2. windows haters gonna bash me on that move. but....i have my reasons.

So why the TP2?
I've used my friends original touch pro, and have grown to dislike windows mobile. Out of the 6 mobile os's (android, webOS, iphone, symbian, blackberry, and windows mobile), i would definitely have to choose WM last.

But I hear good things WM 6.5 and above, maybe they are better, because 6.1 isn't that good.