First week with the Hero, coming from the Touch Pro 2

[fowen]

I received my Hero last Wednesday and jumped on a plane Wednesday night. I was a little worried about switching right before going on a trip since I have had a Windows Mobile Phone for the last nine years, starting with the MPx200.

I went the first 12 hours on the original stock rom that came with the Hero and then after I got settled in that night I upgraded to 2.1. I saw a few nice "graphical" changes but overall with either rom I have not been happy with the performance. I have been told over clocking the rom will help so I was going to flash to Fresh Toast but after playing with it for an hour it appears 2.1 cannot be rooted yet.

Some of my observations over the last week:
- Exchange mail doesn't seem like it is "Push". Mails "seem" to be delayed compared to Gmail.
- Why is the email program different between gmail and exchange? The Gmail version annoys me.
- Lag is KILLING me!
- Visual Voicemail is awesome.
- Multiple contact sources, including Facebook, is awesome (but makes me need to clean them all up)
- Why doesn't the phone disable the touch screen when you put the phone to your ear and re-enable it when you take it away?
- Why can't you adjust the timing for the screen shutting off and the phone locking separate?
- When you enable the pattern lock why is there two lock screens? (the pattern and the slide one)

These are not questions (yet) just my observations. During the next week I will start looking for the answers because i am sure there are resolutions to some of the problems I ran into.

[awenthol]

You can run fresh toast and overclock just fine but overall the rom is a bit buggy, which is why i went back to 2.1.1.

Compared to 2.0.d, 2.1.1 is pretty fast. Unless froyo is all they say it will b3, dont expect a whole lot more.

[casingbill]

@awenthol, he can't change roms, because he can't root...hes running the official 2.1 software

[thacounty]

There is a forum here for reviews of the hero

[vansmack]

Originally Posted by fowen

- Exchange mail doesn't seem like it is "Push". Mails "seem" to be delayed compared to Gmail.

You are correct here. Android does not have full ActiveSync support, it only scratches at the surface at what MS would call "full ActiveSync support." There are thrid party products out there that will fix this. Be happy that your phone can at least communicate with the servers as some companies block phones that don't have full support.

Originally Posted by fowen

- Why is the email program different between gmail and exchange? The Gmail version annoys me.

GMail is a completely separate app from the other email app. Google has much more control over their servers so they have a separate app they can develop in conjunction.

Originally Posted by fowen

- Lag is KILLING me!

When I first went to 2.1, I didn't see much lag. Now a week in and I can't hang up a call and make a second call from the "phone" screen for at least 30 seconds, sometimes longer. This was identical to 1.5 and a major disappointment in this phone.

Originally Posted by fowen

- Why doesn't the phone disable the touch screen when you put the phone to your ear and re-enable it when you take it away?

Hmm, mine does. It vibrates when I hold it vertically to let me know it's in non touch mode and removes itself when I hangup or the call ends. Calibrate your G-Sensor: Settings->Sound and Disply->G-Sensor Calibration (at the bottom)

Originally Posted by fowen

- Why can't you adjust the timing for the screen shutting off and the phone locking separate?

Good question, though I haven't thought of why I would need that, but for some it's a good option.

Originally Posted by fowen

- When you enable the pattern lock why is there two lock screens? (the pattern and the slide one)

To keep you from pocket dialing 911?

[fowen]

Thank you vansmack for taking the time to answer! I put some responses below.

Originally Posted by vansmack

You are correct here. Android does not have full ActiveSync support, it only scratches at the surface at what MS would call "full ActiveSync support." There are thrid party products out there that will fix this. Be happy that your phone can at least communicate with the servers as some companies block phones that don't have full support.

I half way figured this out today. It appears Android sets exchange to check mail every 15 minutes instead of push by default.

Originally Posted by vansmack

GMail is a completely separate app from the other email app. Google has much more control over their servers so they have a separate app they can develop in conjunction.

I thought that is why but my biggest complaint is the lack of a "newer" button without hitting menu. They designed the "newer" button into the main mail design, why didn't they do the same in the gmail app?

Originally Posted by vansmack

When I first went to 2.1, I didn't see much lag. Now a week in and I can't hang up a call and make a second call from the "phone" screen for at least 30 seconds, sometimes longer. This was identical to 1.5 and a major disappointment in this phone.

I am seeing the same behavior. The phone lag is what is annoying me the most.

Originally Posted by vansmack

Hmm, mine does. It vibrates when I hold it vertically to let me know it's in non touch mode and removes itself when I hangup or the call ends. Calibrate your G-Sensor: Settings->Sound and Disply->G-Sensor Calibration (at the bottom)

Ill play with the G-Sensor to see if that helps. I would have thought this would have been configured out of the box.

Originally Posted by vansmack

Good question, though I haven't thought of why I would need that, but for some it's a good option.

I agree, I just wish they allowed a little more custimization with it. IE: Screen off after 30 seconds, phone locks after 1 minute.

Originally Posted by vansmack

To keep you from pocket dialing 911?

Now that makes sense.

[markus_del_marko]

Ive had no lag on the 2.1.1 fresh release. i did mod the rom and remove sense/ bloatware, so my hero is flying like the breeze.

[vansmack]

I agree that the phone call lag is most likely caused by the SenseUI. I'm trying to avoid the root route though - did that for a long time on the Diamond and am really looking for an out of the box solution that meets my needs. I fear that may require a 1ghz processor, so I'm still looking.

The phone lag and lack of a consistent bluetooth connection are my biggest problems with the Hero right now. About every other to every third time I bluetooth connect my phone to my car with 2.1, I can't hear any sound on the other end and they can't me. The problem is you don't know until you make that first connection. This was not the case on 1.5 - BT worked great on 1.5.

[sprintgirl]

Check out the Beezy and Kool Aid roms over at androidcentral. I think you will love the speed and snappy response. Good luck! Hope your phone starts to grow on you. I love my TP2 and so far I am not that into the android thing (i like it people, don't freak yet) but it's hard to getaway from something you know and love. My corporate auditors asked me today what my favorite operating system is and I told them "That's like asking a parent to choose their favorite child! I love them all!" Enjoy!

[bradart]

Originally Posted by markus_del_marko

Ive had no lag on the 2.1.1 fresh release. i did mod the rom and remove sense/ bloatware, so my hero is flying like the breeze.

Originally Posted by sprintgirl

Check out the Beezy and Kool Aid roms over at androidcentral. I think you will love the speed and snappy response. Good luck! Hope your phone starts to grow on you. I love my TP2 and so far I am not that into the android thing (i like it people, don't freak yet) but it's hard to getaway from something you know and love. My corporate auditors asked me today what my favorite operating system is and I told them "That's like asking a parent to choose their favorite child! I love them all!" Enjoy!

He cannot flash roms, as he completely lacks root access and cannot attain it. Rom suggestions are not solutions at this point, only annoyances.