My HTC Hero review and comments!!!!!!

One thing users might be overlooking is that in nearly every application including Browser, When you press the menu key….there is a pop-up menu, with forward and back arrows and other options including bookmarks.

Hit Menu in nearly every app and “voila”….more options…fast and just what you need….like a genie in a cell phone.

Too many reviews with too many fly by night people that seem to only know half of what the device can do.

I have spent over a week 8 hours a day loading apps, trying fixes for improving battery life, (thanks to countless posts on Sprint discussion forums and others) including getting rid of any Advanced Task managers because the phone manages apps fine and app conflicts with the Droid functions.

Switching to Handcent or Chomp and killing Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and mobile data….not only save battery life but after doing a reset (i.e. turning the phone off with the end call button and then turning it back on will reset the awake tine……so you can monitor IF the phone is actually turning off……I am getting 9-20% awake time depending on usage now.

Go to Menu, Settings, scroll to About Phone, tap, taps on Status, scroll to bottom and compare Up Time to Awake Time to monitor your battery drain. Note: you can hit end call after noting the “awake time” and check it in a few minutes..and if it doesn’t change….then your Hero is sleeping like it should.

Also, adding too many apps at any one time WILL overload the memory temporarily and eventually KILL the phone function and begin a series of force close tabs….You will not get the phone back without deleting apps…and may not be able to access a forced reset.

Get X-Uninstaller and delete the last 5-6 apps you downloaded…and the phone comes back….give it a rest for a day and then slowly add a few apps at a time.

So far, I have over 75-100 apps and my Hero flies…..no widgets except “Quick Settings’…an “all in one management” app - with all the widgets in one - that need to be turned off when not necessary to save battery life…….

I also have Handcent, Fast Call, Voicemail, and a screen dimmer APP called Brightness Level on my main page and that’s it.

Also, My Backup Pro is pretty powerful for saving data and apps to the SD card and restores after resets if they are absolutely necessary.

Flexillis Mobile Security is an extremely good app to keep your device safe. It has anti virus scanning/protection plus a firewall. Its backup function will backup your contacts, photos, call log, mms, sms’s and pretty much anything else you want it to their online site. And there is a phone locater also as part of this app.

Power Manager is great for battery monitoring.

There’s so much this phone can do and it seems that way too many novices flying by the seat of their pants are in a rush to get on you-tube with their video reviews, in addition the bloggers and so called tech journalists offering VERY limited knowledge of EVERYTHING the HERO does.

And comparing it to the IPhone. The IPhone is great, but droid just may challenge Apple to reinvent themselves. And we benefit from the tech wars. Something new has come along and bashers and defenders are slinging their opinions and more. Why not just do comparisons, take the high road and lay off the slams. You don’t and I DO! Tech is as diverse as people, We are all different. What a concept. Diversity!

Verizon’s Motorola Droid will have a bigger screen and 2.0 firmware, but will not be that much faster. The Moment will please some desiring a real keyboard. And then the differences get into personal preference.

As more people start adding apps and crashing due to what I have already mentioned, they will either give up or exchange for a simpler phone……or stick with it and “get it”! Play with it for a few weeks and then read the MANUAL. And then start researching on Google. There’s a ton of droid info. Opps, did I say GOOGLE? Yes my HTC Hero says that on the back, made in mid September. Rev A.

Have fun. It took me 3 phone lockups and hard resets to “get it’ and then two more phone lockups….BUT this time I started deleting the last 5 or 6 apps I installed and now I am back up in 10 minutes instead of days…..ALL that to get to where I am now. Cruzin’ with a killer phone and sticking with HTC and Sprint.

A slightly bigger screen and faster processor would be nice in a Gen 2 phone, but I can wait. So much to do with this amazing piece of technology, it will take months to exhaust the possibilities” and push it and the addition apps to the max.

By the way, I am one torqued off Palm Treo 650 user who was abandoned when they went stupid and lost the PDA/Smartphone race several years ago. The Pre is promising but too small a screen for my 59 year old eyes. I wish them well, but are they listening to what the market wants? NOT!

I was so close to an IPhone, researched everything for weeks and then researched the Hero and android operating system. WinMo lost. They’re dead and need a new mission statement and goal.
Just a few thoughts from someone who’s lived with the Hero and decided to stick with Sprint like I have for the past 7 years.

And I am not a paid reviewer, endorser or even work in the tech industry. I just played with, crashed and kept on looking for answers till I feel like I am the master of my HERO, and NOT the other way around!

Best of luck to all the “Droid” pioneers. Droid DOES!!!!

Rich-
Thank you so much for you infromative review. I purchased the phone last week and i am very impressed with it but, i as a former blackberry owner and i had a auto on and off feature. I can't seem to find it on the phone. I have scoured the apps and can't seem to find the app that makes this happen. Are you aware of the app on the blackberry? I would like to get this app on the Hero soon, as I receive emails at all times of the night. Maybe, you can suggest some fixes for my issues.... just looking for some sleep in the night!!!!!

thank you
Bert

how do i shut off the initial sms app

I love the htc hero. I've had it for a week and love it. Problem though.. one thing. Battery life on this thing SUCKS! Should i return this thing or are there going to solutions to this problem and if so, how do i get the updates for more life out of it??

The Hero Sucks....the guy that spent 8 hours a day figureing it out...good luck, lots of us have to work for a living and Sprint has sold a 'bag of goods' I hated it when I first got it, I hate it now...but then, it has been at my sprint store....they have been trying to fix it for over a week now, they are getting me a new one and I STILL HATE IT!!!!!!!!!!!! SMS-Phone Calls, etc, the apps suck! I ready to get my I-Phone back, I can handle AT&T dropping calls but I've been without my Hero for a week now and my husband bought one at the same time and he is starting to have problems with it GOOD LUCK.....mine is getting flushed! And if sprint doesn't take care of this problem....we will handle it legally