[lotten]

I've owned the HTC Hero thru Sprint since November.
I do like it, but wouldn't get it today due to it being underpowered by current standards.
It was pretty good with the native Android1.5, but I've flashed current Fresh ROMS as they come.
Android 2.x is a little too much for this phone.
There is a weird audio bug, where periodically the audio will just quit (there is a Bug ID for this, and is supposedly fixed, but I still see complaints about it. Anyways.....)

If I were to get a phone today, I would go for the EVO, or any Android phone with the 1Ghz Snapdragon CPU (the Hero is a 500Mhz process, I think).
Yes, they'll make you pay a $10 fee because its a 4G phone, even though 4G coverage isn't in many places, but your EVO phone will run faster then the Hero even over 3G because of the extra CPU power.

To help reduce that $10 fee, look for a discount offer for Sprint.
I have a 18% discount for my Sprint service through my employer.
But I was also offered a 5% or 10% discount thru my Credit Union. Many people are Credit Union members.
I might even have a scan of that offer stored somewhere.