[ZX6RArcher]

As a Sprint Tech Consultant and avid cell phone fanatic I've used quite a few phones' browsing features. I personally own/use a Blackberry 8350i, Touch Pro (/w Energy ROM) and Touch Pro 2 (stock ROM); yes I have three cell phones... Four if you count my I9 Nextel that is on Boost Mobile now. I've also have had a lot of personal hands-on experience with the Hero.

I hate the 8350i browser (even on wifi on my 12mbit home connection with Opera Mini) and absolutely love Opera Mobile on the Touch Pro 1/2. I have to give the TP2 the thumbs up over the TP because of the screen size and on the stock ROM it will quickly switch the display depending on the orientation of the device. The Pre browser is very good as well (too bad the phone itself is a POS). The Hero's browser is very good and I would put it on par with the TP2/Pre. It switches back and forth between orientations VERY quickly and is a breeze to operate. I would definitely rate it above the Pre. But when it comes to the TP2, I have to give the very minimal screen advantage to the TP2 because I am a screen-size *****. Plus the sliding zoom bar is nice and quick to use. One thing I like about the Hero is your push pages are displayed and updated so when you look at your bookmarks widget you see the most up-to-date snapshot of the actual page whereas on the the TP2 you just see a quick link on the browser tab in TF3D.

So in my opinion...
Curve browser > Touch Pro > Pre > Hero > Touch Pro 2

If you are in-between the TP2 and Hero you need to look at the other advantages of the phones. WinMo vs. Android... 5MP /w flash camera vs. 3.2MP w/o flash... physical keyboard vs. virtual keyboard and finally the price. Right now I have a line for both my TP and TP2. When my contract is up here in November I will for sure upgrade my TP line to the Hero since that's my employee line and get instant rebates on it. That way my TP will be a backup phone for my TP2, my I9 a backup for my 8350i and the Hero will be my work phone.

Again, this is just my opinion comparing the Hero and the software it was shipped to us with and my own personal devices with the most up to date software on the 8350i, WinMo 6.5 Energy ROM and the stock TP2 ROM. Take it or leave it, it's up to you.